Star Fox: Academy
by T3rran
Summary: Brought back for all dedicated readers. Story will be put back on course in due time. New readers, feel free to review, returning veterans, feel free to review also.
1. Chapter 1,2,3

A/N: Wow! Didn't know so many people missed this fic. Anyway, stop by my profile to vote on how this story will develop, if you don't vote, then I may end up writing it in a way no one enjoy's.

Chapter 1: Beginnings

1,000 ft. until ground. Oh the joy of it all, his G-diffuser was busted, he couldn't pull out of this without passing out. _I have to try_, he thought. 700 ft., now or never. He gently pulled back on the flight stick, he was starting to have an angle, 10 degrees, 30 degrees, and rising. The G's were pressing hard, 3 G's now, his eyes were shutting, he could tell. 70 degrees, 200 ft. he had no choice, he yanked as hard as he could concentrating on staying awake, he reached 85 degrees, 50 feet to ground. He lost conscious.

"Pilot Fox McCloud has crashed! Reason: severe damage and G forces! Simulator Canopy released! This concludes the hands on flight training. All participants in 'Professor Jared Wells' class are to return to the classroom." Fox jumped out of the fake canopy resembling the SF-14 'Tigershark', the mainstay of the Cornerian Armies space armada. He was wearing his white button up shirt and his green tank top under it, and his green pants with dark gray shoes.

_To think that drone got such a good shot, _he thought. He began walking towards the rest of the class, when Bill caught him.

"Dude! Fox!" He lightly jogged towards Fox. "I thought you could fly better than that!" He caught up to him and roughly gave him a noogie with his entire hand, messing up his fur.

"I wasn't focused that much on flyin' but rather som-" He caught himself mid sentence, _shit, now he's gonna ask me about it._ "er, something in another class." They kept walking, letting their feet guide them to the classroom.

It was customary that Cornerian inhabitants have their professions chosen at an early age. It is generally determined by the genetics of the animal. What they are good at, and what they like are the 2 factors. This doesn't cause much of an uproar, as the factors are balanced perfectly. Fox McCloud, who is the son of James McCloud, had the piloting ability, was good at shooting things down in an aircraft, and he couldn't stop messing with his Dad's fighter. Making him the the perfect person for the role of 'Combat Pilot.'

Now at the age of 16, and in full study of what will make him an amazing fighter pilot later on in the world. With his friend Bill, age 16, who also was designated as a combat pilot. They were the best of friends since Preschool.

Bill looked at him "What are you focused on in this 'other class'?" Bill started an act "If you say its about being interrogated in Captivity class, I'll tell you who I'd like to be interrogated by is-" Bill began looking for a hot pilot to use as his 'interrogator'. Then he found one, "The girl they call Krystal."

Fox looked at the ground and blushed slightly, "You wouldn't believe who I was focused on in that other class,"

Bills eyes widened incredibly, "Nuh uh! Dude, you are setting your standards up here," he raised right his hand above his head. "When your maximum is down here" He lowered his hand to has waist.

Fox looked at him and lightly punched Bills arm, "you really can be such an ass sometimes."

Bill laughed at him, and put his arm around Fox, "yep, always there for you. Oh, and if you plan on actually talking to her, might I suggest you fix the fur on your head, you look stupid. Emphasis on the stupid." Bill released him, and Fox padded his fur back to its correct place. Fox's eyes drifted in front of him, about 10 ft. away was Krystal, talking to a few other female pilots, she also was 16. (I know there is a HUGE age difference in the game, but anything less 15 would be awkward) He couldn't stop starring at her tail

"Hey, Fox! What the fuck are you doin'?" He looked into Fox's eyes, and using his index finger and middle finger put them up to Fox's eyes, rotated his hand 180 degrees, and saw he was staring at Krystal, who was wearing gray pants with white shoes that were slightly dirty, a black T-shirt that was relatively skin tight, but not entirely, and a light khaki colored jacket, minus the sleeves and only went down to the top of her stomach. He looked back at the astonished Fox McCloud. "You know, yesterday when I was serving my D-hall in Mr. Wells class, I noticed he had a seating chart made up, I looked and saw you and Krystal sitting at the same table."

Fox came out of his stare and looked at Bill, "dude, bullshit like that isn't going to help me. If you even care about that." They finally arrived back at the classroom, about a 6 minute walk.

As they sat down, Mr. Wells walked in and clasped his hands together, "Alright class! It is time for a new seating chart!" _Oh wow, _Fox thought, _Bill wasn't lying about the seats, but he MUST be lying about me and Krystal sitting next to each other, he never tells me anything straight. _"At this table I want Alex Smith, Jerry Renault..." _blah blah, I hope I don't have to sit near that Bulldog Michael Gunterman._ "...at this table we have our ace in the making Fox McCloud, and to his right will be the lovely Krystal... Shoot! I just realized you 2 are sitting alone, terribly sorry about that. Moving on, at this table I want..."

In Fox's head the teachers voice faded out his mind. He was bursting with thoughts, _no way, Bill really gave me the straight answer, he legitimately told me, oh man, but its going to be such an awkward silence. _"That should sum it up, move to your seat and have 5 minutes free time, and then prepare to learn a little bit about G forces, but DON'T leave your seat." The class got their things and moved to their respective tables. Fox moved his stuff to his new table, shared with Krystal. They sat in silence for 2 minutes, then Fox pulled out his phone and began fiddling with the settings and slid it back into his pocket.

Krystal noticed him using the phone, and asked "why did you bring out your phone?"

Fox looked up at her after sliding his phone away, _oh shit, what am I supposed to say? _"Well, uh... I'm going to... well, you'll see. It's funnier if its a surprise."

Krystal smiled, "Come on, tell me! I won't tell anyone."

_Does she really want to know that bad?_ "Well, it will make this lesson much more interesting, trust me." _I should say my name _"My name is Fox McCloud, whats yours?" _DOH! The teacher already said our names._

"It's Krystal, nice to meet you." She smiled at him, Fox blushed slightly, but it was nearly unnoticeable, and Krystal didn't catch it.

"Alright class, lets begin, the lesson in the simulator room was to teach you about a G force, a G stands for gravity everyone in this room is at 1 G..."

Fox whispered in a low voice to Krystal, "here is just one of the things I was planning." Fox smiled as he put his hand in his pocket, his hand over his 'play' button on the phone. Krystal smiled with excitement to see what it was. "And please, whatever you hear was for comical relief, don't take it as my exact personality."

"Ok, I won't." She whispered back.

"...We invented the G-diffuser system. Does anyone know why it was invented?"

That was Fox's que, he pressed the button, and through the intercom speaker came the words, in an incredibly funny voice, "because you touch yourself at night." The whole class broke down with hysterical laughter lasting for at least one full minute, even Krystal snickered at it, eventually turning into all out laughter.

The teacher laughed half heartedly, "No, I'm afraid that is wrong. It was invented to remove the G's in atmospheric flight, it did this by making the canopy weightless using the 'John's theory of Weightlessness'. This diagram I'm drawing represents how that is done, please copy this down..." The class went on for about 40 more minutes then near the end of class the teacher wrote under the homework section on the board. "Tonight, I want you all to draw the effects of G's, and the effects of the G-diffuser."

That was Fox's final que, he clicked the button on his phone again, and out of the intercom speaker came, "AW SHIT!" The class exploded with little snickering, and again, Krystal snickered slightly.

"Class, this is due tomorrow, and I won't accept late work from this, and Mr. Grey, could you please stop using your phone that way."

Bill looked down and raised his shoulders, "for the first time in my life, I can honestly say, that you have the wrong man, although the work is pure genius." Just then the bell rang. Everyone flooded out of the class. Except for Fox and Krystal.

"Hey Fox, what class do you have next?" She asked as she put her blue binder away.

Fox looked into his backpack, stuffing it with his black binder, "I have P.E., you?"

Krystal swung her bag and slid her arm through the strap, and she held onto the strap with one hand. "Really?! That's where I'm going!"

"Cool, wanna walk there together?" Fox swung his bag over his shoulder, and held onto the coat hanger strap on top of the bag with his index and middle finger.

"Yeah, maybe if I walk with a you, some of those other guys won't try to hit on me."

Fox and Krystal walked out of the room, "yeah, I see logic in that. Come on, let's head down to the obstacle course."

Chapter 2: P.E

Krystal and Fox parted ways temporarily, as they had to change into their physical training uniform, a shirt, and shorts. The girls shorts were generally shorter than the guys, which were normally just below the knees, the girls had theirs no more than half way down the thigh, most were barely even a half a foot down from their butt, and everyone wore skin tight shirts. Most of the guys were in good shape, but Fox was in great shape. Muscular chest, and a slightly visible six-pack. Triceps that barely filled his shirt, and muscular arms, but still maintaining his body to look like it was natural muscle, rather than built. Fox generally walked out of the locker room with his shirt off. He did so when Krystal was walking by with a few other Fox's. All of them stopped as he put on his shirt. In the corner of his eye, Fox caught a look at Krystal, who's breasts caused the shirt to go out quiet a bit. _Damn she looks good_, he thought. Fox walked away, and all the girls started talking and giggling.

"Can you believe how strong he is?" One of them asked.

"I hope I'm his partner for the obstacle course! He could probably carry me all the way and still place the top 3!" Another one said.

"What about you Krystal, what do you think? Krystal? You listening? Helloooo?!" She could not answer, her head was spinning with thoughts. _Wow, I didn't expect him to look that good._ "Krystal! Answer me!"

"Oh, uh, yeah, he's great..." She said.

One of them leaned forward and asked Krystal "does a certain someone like a certain someone?"

Krystal blushed, "I dunno, I've only talked to him for like, 10 minutes."

Then the P.E teacher came towards them, "ladies! Let's move it along, everyone is waiting on you!"

At the obstacle course the teacher began explaining what he wanted them to do. "People, I want you all to run the obstacle course today. Winner gets extra credit. And before any of you complain, I'm giving Fox this weighted vest, 50 pounds if shear lead, plus the leather." Fox grabbed it and his hand barely dropped from the weight, and he put it on. "Ok, then, since I've already called your name Mr. McCloud, you will be paired with Krystal. Jared, you will be with Jennifer..."

After the names were called, they lined up. "Change in plans, fastest time wins. Fox and Krystal, you will be last..." The course takes about 15 minutes, they go every 5 minutes, and a computer keeps track of them. Finally, it was Fox and Krystal's turn. "Fox, Krystal! GO!" The coach shouted.

The took off at a mad sprint towards the first obstacle, the wooden wall. Fox jumped up and skipped half the wall and used his arms to pull himself to the top. Krystal was right behind him and jumped and skipped a quarter of the wall. Fox extended his hand, she grabbed it and he lifted her over the wall with one hand. Krystal let go, when she hit the ground she rolled and took off, Fox jumped off and flipped in the air, then when he hit the ground, rolled also, and took off to catch back up.

They continued their mad sprint, Fox managed to catch Krystal, they approached another obstacle, the rope swing. They had to use the swing to get over a hole in the ground. Fox went first again, this was the last obstacle, the rest was a test of endurance with running, he and Krystal were going for the school record, 13 minutes. Fox leaped for the rope and swung across. He threw the rope back at Krystal who jumped and grabbed it, she swung across, and landed. It was a straight forward run to the finish, about 5 minutes at the pace they were going. Near the end of the race, Krystal stumbled, she was about to smack down into the pile of mud in front of her. As she lost her balance, Fox grabbed her hand and pulled her back into balance as they crossed the finish line.

"Krystal and Fox, time was 12 minutes 58 seconds and 69 milliseconds. Congratulations on beating the school record!" The computer timer stated. Fox and Krystal were still holding hands, when they realized it, they yanked their hands away apologetically.

"S-sorry." Fox stammered,

"It's ok, really." Krystal bent over and grabbed her knees, and Fox put his hands over his head, exposing his muscle through the shirt. They both glanced at each other, but quickly looked away.

"ALRIGHT EVERYONE! Get to the showers and clean yourselves up. Fox, Krystal, amazing job, I am impressed, you two might just have a future in piloting."

Fox began leaving when his legs turned him around _why did I turn around? _He saw Krystal still breathing like every breathe was her last. Fox's legs took him closer to her and managed to say through his breaths, "you did... really good." He leaned beside her and patted her on the shoulder. "I'll see you after class in the gym." Krystal got the wind in her to stand up straight, and after realizing what Fox had said, smiled to herself. _He's a good guy, _and she left for the girls locker room.

Chapter 3: A Knight to Remember

Fox was sitting in the gym, ruffling through his wet fur on his head. He pulled reached into his pocket and pulled out his scarf, and tied it around his neck. His signature look, he then reached into his pants and pulled out a pair of his Dad's old aviator sunglasses, he smiled at them and put them away, just as Krystal walked in. _Not going to move, no sir. If she wants to talk to me she will come over here herself._ He was lying his guts out, he wanted to move and go talk to her, but he didn't want anyone to catch on that he was hitting on her, which no one really seemed to catch on as of right now. _It couldn't hurt, I mean, Jesus Christ, I can't stop staring at her._ He reached into his pocket again for his sunglasses, and put them on, _at least she won't know I'm staring at her with these on._

Krystal was talking with the female pilots. She wasn't really following their stories about their trip through the obstacles, and how the guys had helped them out, her mind was off in a daydream...

She was back at the obstacle course, and when she swung on the rope, it broke, as she began to fall, Fox jumped of the bridge, reached his hand out and caught her before she fell into the dark abyss, with Fox hanging on the edge of the bridge. Fox pulled her up and put her on the bridge edge, while he pulled himself up, and extended his arm, he pulled her up. As he did, she looked him in his emerald green eyes, and they came closer, but she was interrupted by the bell. _Shoot, just when it was getting good_.

Back to Fox, he removed his shades as the bell rang. Put them back in his pocket, and walked towards Krystal. She was still packing up some of her school stuff. Her black shorts, black jacket, much like his own, and her gray shirt, he couldn't help but look at her. She hadn't noticed him so he thought he'd play a nice joke on her.

Fox sneaked up behind her, she was in her knee's, he bent over close to her ear, and waited for her to notice slightly, then calmly said "boo."

Fox got his desired result, she jumped and dropped her book. She turned around and saw Fox laughing, she slapped his leg, "that wasn't funny!" She was embarrassed, and she was embarrassed in front of Fox, now she blushed even more.

Fox stopped laughing, "sorry, but you were right there and-" he sniggered, "I'm sure you know how it goes."

She stood up and crossed her arms "don't do it again or I might turn around and slap you instead."

Fox bent over and picked up her backpack and her book. "I won't for the rest of this week, but maybe next week, I'll catch you off guard." Fox handed Krystal's bag and book over to her. "Well, that ends our classes, you headin' to the dorms?" _No matter what she says, I am going to my dorm._ Fox thought.

"Actually, I was going to get food." Krystal began walking out of the gym with Fox.

"Ah, well. I guess I'll see you then." Fox began to turn towards the dorm room hallway.

**Later that night in Krystals Dorm, 9:40**

Krystal was trying to sleep, she tossed and turned, but sleep eluded her. Eventually, sleep eluded her enough for her to give up on sleeping. She put on some clothes and went out for a walk, a very dangerous thing to do in the city, even with combat training. She picked up the silver dagger her father gave, sheathed it, tied it around her thigh, and left the dorm. She exited the school, and began walking.

**Foxs Dorm, 9:40**

Fox was having a fitful sleep, he was having a nightmare. He and Krystal were flying the SF-14's around, when suddenly, Krystals engine exploded, she went down and crashed. Fox landed his fighter and ran over to Krystal, who was bleeding. She tried to say something Fox couldn't catch, and then she died.

Fox woke sweating, and breathing deeply. _It was a dream. _He thought _but she died in it, why am I having a dream about her dieing? _Fox rose out of bed and put on his clothes, but he couldn't find his green tank top. He left his button up shirt unbuttoned, for some instinctive reason, he grabbed his laser pistol. _I've never been one to turn my instincts down._ He tied the holster to his right thigh, and holstered his gun. He left the school, and began walking.

Half way through his walk he heard a voice down a dimly lit alleyway. "No money eh? Then I guess you'd do nicely naked." There was a short pause, he heard a female voice, but couldn't understand it. He heard hand contact and a slap. "That dagger won't do you any good, now be a good girl, or you'll end up dead!" He heard a scream, he took off for the alley and pulled his gun out of his holster, and saw a panther trying to rape a girl, but she was putting up a good fight. "Well, if you won't let me, then I'll just shoot your arms, and do it anyway." He saw the panther pull his own pistol out. Lighting struck, and it began to pour rain.

Fox acted on instinct. He aimed his gun and shot the pistol out of the panthers hand. He looked at his pistol, and it stated it had no shots left. _Shit, _Fox thought. _Well, that panther won't know the difference._ "Leave her alone, or the next shot won't be aimed for your hand."

The panther turned towards him, and realized that Fox gun had no power left. "Hah! Your gun doesn't even have a charge anymore." He looked back at the girl, "stay right there darling, while I kill this nuisance."

The panther charged him, Fox took his gun and threw it at the panther. He didn't know if it hit his desired target, as the panther still charged at him. The panther threw his fist out, aiming for Fox's stomach, Fox side stepped him, held out his right arm, ran 3 steps forward, and attempted to clothes line him. He succeeded, his arm caught the panthers neck, causing him to land straight on his back, and slide a few feet. The panther jumped back on his feet, wiping blood from his mouth. "Well, I guess I'm gonna have to cheat a bit." Fox heard the sound of a switch blade, and saw the glint of the shinning blade next to the panthers waist. The panther leaped, and pinned Fox down with his left hand, his knife raised in the other. Lightning struck, and in the corner of his eye, saw the dagger barely in reach. "Maybe next time you will know your place. Oh wait, there won't be a next time." The panther raised his knife in the air, Fox grabbed for the dagger. The sound of two sharp piece's of metal puncturing flesh was heard.

Fox yelled in pain, the panther was quiet. Lightning struck, and in the panthers heart, was a silver dagger. The panther fell on Fox's chest. He tossed the dead panther off of himself. Fox got up, and walked over to a wall and leaned his back against it, gasping for air. In his left bicep he felt a never ending wave of pain, he reached for it and found that the knife was stuck in it. He slid down and sat, leaning against the wall. The girl ran over to him and knelled down next to him. When they were face to face, lightning struck, and they immediately recognized each other.

"Hey Krystal, fancy meeting you here." Fox managed to say, holding the knife.

"Fox? What are you doing-" Fox put his right hand over her mouth.

"Couldn't sleep, now I have a favor to ask of you." He released his hand from her mouth.

"What do you need?" Krystal had worry written all over her face.

"The knife, I need you to pull it out. It hurts really bad, and I can't force myself to rip it out." Fox grabbed her right hand and put it on the handle.

"Ok, on the count of 3 I'll rip it out. 1..........." Fox began taking in rapid breaths. "2............" Fox closed his eyes. "3!" She ripped it out of his bicep.

Fox let out a yell. "Son of a BITCH! That hurt." He had put his hand over his shoulder as he yelled.

Krystal dropped the knife, and put her hands over her mouth and nose. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you!"

Fox put his right hand on her shoulder, "it's ok, it was going to hurt whether I went to a doctor about it or not." He took his right hand off her shoulder, and lifted her face up so his eyes met hers. "Thanks." He smiled at Krystal.

Krystal smiled back, and without warning, hugged him. After about 2 minutes this way, she pulled back, and said, "I should be the one thanking you, you saved me from... well, you know what."

Fox smiled, "I did what I saw was right. But I didn't think I'd have to take his life." Fox sighed. "I am sorry you had to witness me kill him." He looked at the corpse, he moved Krystal out of the way, pulled her dagger out, and found his own laser pistol. He holstered his gun and gave Krystal the dagger. Fox walked over and picked up the knife.

Krystal sheathed her dagger. "Fox, what are you doing?"

Fox walked over to the corpse with the panthers knife in his hand. "If we make it look like he killed himself, the chances of you and me being tried for murder are slimmer." He took the corpse, stood it up right, put the dagger in the panthers right hand, and thrusted the dagger into the open wound on the chest. Then he let the body fall limp. "It is a nasty business, and I am sorry you have to witness such a thing, especially from me." He turned around and walked toward Krystal who just stood their stunned. He wrapped his hands around her body, and hugged her. "I'm glad you weren't seriously injured." He released her. And walked backwards.

"Fox, is everything alright?" Krystal walked towards him.

"That knife, was there anything on it? Anything other than just metal?" Fox was feeling dizzy.

"Yes it had something on it. Why what was it?" She asked worriedly.

Fox leaned back against a wall, using his hands to try and support him. "Shit, he poisoned that blade." He said weakly. Krystal gasped, Fox turned to her, "get help... find a phone, make a run to the hospital, hurry, I think he used Titanian poison." Fox puked, trying to remove the poison from his system, it wouldn't work, and he would just keep puking until he eventually died. "Hurry, I don't have more than 30 minutes to live." Fox feel to the concrete. He saw Krystal leave, _if I die here, I'll never get the chance,_ He thought. _I must stay alive._ Fox stood back up and using the wall to support him. The world began spinning, he feel down again. He lifted himself back up and puked again. He lost feeling of his legs and fell. _This looks like the end, good-bye, Bill, good-bye Mom, good-bye Dad, good-bye Krystal._ He saw the world fade to an even darker black, that was the last thing he remembered.


	2. Chapter 4

A/N: WZ, thanks for the review. Guess I forgot to mention that the pistol is his, just like Krystals dagger is her own.

I own nothing but the story.

Chapter 4: **name goes here**

**The next day, at 6:50, Saturday morning...**

Fox eyes opened up, he saw a white ceiling. Slowly gaining conscious, he turned his head to the left, there was a window that over looked the city. He turned his head to his right, and saw a door with pictures of calm scenes. It was incredibly cold, he had white sheets over his body, and was wearing something of a robe. There could only be one place in the whole city he could be.

Hospital.

The site of this place made him twitch. He had been here numerous times with his mom when his dad, James, came home from a mission in space, each time, James slipped closer and closer to death every time he had been here. He laughed half heartedly to himself, _seems like I'm not doing much better than my dad ever did. _He thought to himself. The nurse walked in and saw that he was awake. "Oh! Your finally awake, I'll go to the waiting room and get your visitors."

_Visitors? _He thought. _Why would I have visitors, my Dad is probably somewhere in the Lylat System, Mom is at work, Bill and Krystal are probably hanging around at school, who could possibly be visiting me?_ To his surprise, Bill, his mom, and Krystal walked in, along with someone he didn't know, but it was a bird.

"Hey sweetie." He heard his mom in a sweet voice. "You feeling better?"

Fox blushed, and managed to speak, "mom, don't do that in front of my friends." He smiled, "I'm not going to die, not now anyway."

The doctor walked in, he was a goat, with round glasses, and he came in with a notebook that he was reading. "Actually, when you were brought in you were extremely close to death, we were afraid that the antidote we gave you wouldn't remove the poison in time." He put the clipboard on the table near the door. "In fact, if this young lady here didn't run here," He was hinting at Krystal, "and this fine young man" He hinted at the unknown bird, "who ran you here, you might not have survived. It's a miracle that the antidote went to work so fast to save your life."

Bill said something, "dude, you really do have your dads luck." Bill leaned back against the wall closest to the foot of the bed with his hand behind his head.

The bird spoke, "my name is Falco Lombardi," He raised his hand in the air, "save your thanks. I just couldn't pull myself to see someone die from poison." He turned to the door and began walking towards it, it slid open. "I'll see you around Foxy." He walked out the door and left.

The doctor turned to face Fox, "we will need to do some checks, that poison did quite the damage to your esophagus. However, using some serum we were able to heal it back to what we hope is its original state, we just need to do a quick CAT scan to confirm it," He injected something into Fox's arm. "This should allow you to walk, give it about 30 seconds, and I will be back in 10 minutes to take you to the CAT scan room."

The doctor left the room, and Fox jumped onto his feet, "I don't like this place, the faster I get out the better." He noticed Krystal blush and look away from him, he realized he only had on a robe. "Anyone know where I can find my pants?" He looked at the ground then blushed and said in a low voice, "and my boxers..." Bill threw some boxers and green pants into Fox's face. Fox began to put his clothes on, and felt he was being watched. "Look, this is a personal thing, could you all please look away?" In seconds flat he had all his lower body clothes on. "hey Krystal, you mind taking, this robe off? It's really itchy."

Krystal looked at him and pointed to herself, "me? Why not your mom or Bill?"

Fox sighed, "because my mom doesn't like taking stuff like this off of people, and I highly doubt Bill even knows how to do this." He turned around pointing to a knot that was already loose.

Bill heard Krystal giggle, "laugh it up why don't ya? I could do it, just it's two guys, and I don't go that way," He used his hand and through it straight, then turned it right. He was still leaning against the wall, and he crossed his arms.

Krystal sighed, "well, o-ok, I'll do it." She walked towards Fox, and began untying the knot.

Fox heard Bill do a fake cough then he spat out the barely recognizable words, "goin' get some 'night!"

Fox turned his head towards Bill, and gave him a harsh look.

Bill broke out in a light chorus in a low voice, "you know it's to be truuue." Bill laughed at his own joke.

Krystal broke the mood, "ok, I got it."

Fox took his right hand and began removing it, "thanks" he calmly stated. He finished removing it, showing his back to Krystal, who blushed and took 5 rapid steps backwards. She looked up and noticed the white bandages around his upper body in the left side, where he was stabbed. Fox turned to Bill. "Bill, please say you brought me my tank top, or at least one of my button up shirts." Bill threw the green tank top at Fox, and it stuck to his face. "Thanks," He muffled through the shirt. Krystal giggled at his remark, and the fact he looked funny with the tank top covering his face. Fox quickly put it on as to avoid further embarrassment.

Fox's mother looked at her watch, "Oh, dear, I am late for work." She ran up and kissed Fox on the cheek, "see you during Winter break." And she power walked out of the room.

Fox rubbed his cheek, "even though she is my mom, she worries about her work a slight bit more than me."

Bill yawned, "as mush as I would like to hear the story, I'm going to catch up on some sleep, I'll see you back at the dorm Fox." Bill was walking out the door and loudly said, "one's and zero's!" And left the room, but he came back in, "oh! Here are your socks and shoes," he tossed them into the middle of the room, and he went back out the door. Leaving Fox and Krystal in an awkward silence.

Krystal broke the silence, "well, what does your mom do that makes her leave even when her son was in the hospital?"

Fox laid back down on the bed, leaving his left leg at steep arch, and his hands behind his head. "She's a researcher who works with the Science Division of the Cornerian Army, probably to be closer to my dad, but they really don't accept people showing up late, and she wants to maintain her spot as a top researcher."

Krystal sat down in a chair she dragged from the desk nearby. Spun it around, and rested her arms and head on the back of the chair. "Is that so?"

Fox shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, that's pretty much it, she's currently working on a new power cell for blaster rifles to allow charged shots, while also working on making the Cornerian fighters faster and more reliable."

Krystal crossed her legs and arms, and leaned back in the chair, "Wow, your mom really does have a lot of work to do. No wonder they can't let her be late."

Fox shrugged again, "Yeah, she's gone almost as much as my dad is, it's a miracle they can even get time off to see me during Winter break." He sighed, and looked out the window. _To think she saved me from dieing down there, how will I be able to repay her?_

Krystal was standing over top of him, "let's just say we are even, you saved me from that panther, and I saved you from the poison."

Fox jumped at what she was said, "Di-did you just read my mind?"

Krystal smiled, "Didn't you know I was a telepath?"

Fox looked up at her, "I didn't know they came with labels, wheres yours?"

Krystal laughed, "we don't have labels, but yes, I read your mind."

Fox began to sit up, and Krystal moved out of the way quickly. He turned and let his feet hit the ground on the side of the bed, and Krystal sat back in her chair. He looked at Krystal and asked slyly, "why were you reading my mind in the first place?"

Krystal blushed, thinking of an answer, "I-well... uh... you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Fox grinned widely and raised an eyebrow, "you'd be surprised how gullible I am."

The doctor walked in, "ok, Fox, we are ready to begin your CAT scan." He paused, and looked at him closely, "I see you already put your clothes on." The doctor began seeing him take of his shirt, "no, no, don't worry, the CAT scan will see through that, besides, its your esophagus, not your entire body, and that tank top looks no thicker than the robe you were wearing earlier."

Fox got up and stretched, "alright Doc, let me get my shoes on, and I'll be outside in a second."

The doctor looked at him, "I hope I wasn't interrupting something..." And he quickly sped out the room.

Fox sat on the floor, and put on his socks, then his shoes. When he was done, he leaned back to his back then threw himself into the air, and landed on his feet and turned his head towards her. "I'll see you in the waiting room." And began walking towards the door.

Krystal got up from her chair and asked, "how do you know I'll be in the waiting room?"

Fox stopped and turned around, "because I asked so nicely, will you please walk back with me to the school campus?" He smiled handsomely.

Krystal smiled back almost instinctively, how could she resist that? "Sure. I'll walk with you back to campus, but only because you asked so nicely."

Fox only replied with, "thanks." He turned and left the room.

Krystal was still smiling, only it was twitching with happiness, she made a fist and pulled it towards herself, and at the same time let out a low "YES!"

The nurse walked in and spotted her, "Miss, you will have to leave now, we got to clean this place up for the next patient."

Krystal's smiled innocently and rubbed the back of her head. "Oh, right. Sorry, I'll be on my way." With that she left the room.


	3. Chapter 5

A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long! Most returning readers will notice this has changed, stay calm.

I OWN NOTHING!!! Except the plot.

Chapter 5: Clear Skies

2 months have passed since the alleyway incident. It was now December, on a Friday, the final day before Winter break. We join our pair Fox McCloud and Krystal in the final class of the day before Winter break...

The gym was full of anxious students, awaiting the class to be over so they could leave for the break. The teacher finally finished taking attendance, and shouted. "LISTEN UP!" The whole gym got quiet immediately following his harsh tone. The words still lingered in the rafters of the gym. "Since today is the last day of school before our extended weekend, me and the flight instructor decided that we will have a simulated air combat match. Afterwards you will receive your first dog tags, stating your name, ID, and current rank..."

Fox was psyched. _Finally! _He thought. _I can come home and show my dad that I am officially in the military! Even if it is just a lousy cadet rank._ The teacher continued on, "...after receiving your tags, you will be given your report card, and your current standing among other pilots in each class. But enough of this, get your belongings and lets move to the simulator room!"

Everyone got up from the gym floor, most of them didn't even bring their bags with them, and the teacher had locked the locker rooms to prevent anyone from changing. This was to avoid people wasting time changing and then re-changing back into their regular clothing. Fox was wearing a thick white jacket leaving it unzipped, with a green colored Underlay coldgear long sleeve. He had on his green pants, as they were perfect for all weather, same for his shoes, but he didn't wear his scarf. Krystal was wearing a blue hoodey that matched her skin tone of blue. Under it, if she ever decided to take it off, had a white long sleeve that read on the front in red; 'Bearcats', a popular soccer team on Corneria. She retained her gray pants and her white shoes also.

Fox got up from the floor before Krystal, and Fox held his left hand out to assist her up. Krystal smiled as she took the hand. Fox had 2 reasons for doing this, to help out the girl he liked, and to keep his left bicep in use, despite what the doctors told him, he needed to retain the muscle.

Krystal was on her feet, and they began walking, she looked at Fox, "thank you for helping me up."

Fox smiled at her, "it was no trouble at all, although you are kinda heavy..."

Krystal looked at him slightly irritated, "what is that supposed to mean Fox? Are you insinuating that I am fat?"

Fox laughed and patted her on the back. "I was only kidding, I wouldn't dare call you fat. Especially to the only person that has ever actually managed to keep up with me on the obstacle course, everyone else generally falls behind."

She gave him a friendly hug. Fox interpreted this as a silent way of saying 'thanks for taking that back'. She pulled out of the hug and looked at him, "you know, I bet I could take you down in a dog fight. Up their, being fat has nothing to do with skill."

Fox looked at her with and with a questioning, yet playful, look on his face, "you really think you could take down the son of James McCloud?" She laughed at him, "I don't get it, what's so funny?"

"Just because you are the son of a famous mercenary pilot, doesn't mean you are the reincarnation of him. I know for a fact I can own you in a dog fight."

Fox smiled playfully, "we'll just see about that Krystal, I bet 20 credits I will take you down."

Krystal thought for a moment, "20 credits, and a meal at wherever the winner chooses, loser pays all." She looked at Fox waiting for him to say yes, "is the son of James McCloud to weak to take down a pilot such as myself?"

Fox ponders for a second, _I don't see why not, I can easily win._ "Deal, loser pays 20 credits and a meal wherever the victor chooses."

They continued their idle chit chat all the way to the simulator room, where they meet up with Bill Grey, who was wearing a red jacket, that looked rather thin, under it he had a navy blue soccer jersey with the number '24' in white on the front. He was part of the schools soccer team, as he demonstrated extreme agility and great footwork, he played forward and scored numerous winning goals. He wore jeans that were worn out from numerous falls during muddy pick up games, falling down, and being in the washer so many times. He wore a pair of black M.A.G indoor soccer cleat's for his shoes (for anyone who does not play indoor, indoor cleats do not have studs, feel free to google what they look like.)

"Hellooo, Fox buddy!" Bill walked toward them casually, most likely hiding something, "how's it goin'?"

"It's going good, you Bi-" Bill wrapped his arm around Fox's throat, causing him to gag slightly, "careful Bill!" Bill released him from his grip. "Jesus Christ, they only give you one neck for a reason."

Bill laughed, "I have yet to see the reason why they only gave us one neck," He shrugged, "maybe just so people can look as good as me." Fox rolled his eyes at this statement, Bill noticed Fox roll his eyes. "Come on! You know you wish you looked as good as I do." Bill flexed his biceps.

Fox responded sarcastically, "yeah, I wish I could attract the ladies like you could Bill, seeing as you have so MANY adoring fans."

The flight instructor yelled to the crowd of students, "OK! It is my my class versus the gym class, find a simulator and get inside. Ejection is enabled, and if you wish to keep flying, you will have to use it when you get shot down." Everyone started rushing towards a simulator, it was rare to have massive scale battles such as these.

Fox was disappointed, _Man, now I'll never get those 20 credits... _Krystal read his mind and said, "20 credits to the one who gets the most kills."

Fox looked at Krystal and smiled at the idea, "Your on Krystal, just so you know, I'll still win." Fox jumped into an SF-14 simulator canopy, and it closed around him.

"System online. Connected to battlefield '01340'. Situation: Air Combat training. Please select spawn point." The robotic voice was female and monotoned. Fox selected his spawn point, on the Lion-class carrier. "Spawn point confirmed. Respawns remaining: Infinite if ejected. Initializing view screen. Confirmed, view screen activated. All flight systems, check. You are cleared to launch. Good luck, Cadet McCloud." Fox grabbed the throttle, and put it 100%, and he launched off of the deck of the carrier.

It was amazing.

The flight itself was enjoyable, with the G-diffuser working, he could do much more than he could in the standard commercial aircraft that civilians rode in. Plus, the HUD, by far the most advanced material created.

The HUD is the main part of the ship, without it, a pilot in a space battle is practically screwed. The canopy of the SF-14 is complex, it is made of a material called 'clear steel', a relatively new invention to the army, not as sturdy as actual steel, but stronger than bullet proof glass, it could withstand _most _laser fire, only exception is capital ship lasers. Along with its added protection to the pilot, it also allowed for a more reliable targeting system. This targeting system, known as Assisted Computer Targeting, or ACT (A/N: No, not the test) for short. The clear steal canopy has the ability to put a square around a specified object. A yellow box for escort targets, a blue box for allied ships specifically designated by the pilot, red box's for enemies that pose an immediate threat, or is the closest enemy to the fighter. It also labels incoming missiles with a green 'X'. The ACT uses radar signatures that emit from every fighter to confirm speed, heading, and distance. When that radar signature is gone, the target is presumed destroyed, and the box that was marking it, is removed. It tracks missiles using the heat signature from the exhaust, and it only tracks missiles that are heading for the ship. The pilot wears a helmet (like the one Bill has on in Star Fox 64 (Lylat Wars)) that gives him specific information on the fighter, and even has an arrow that shows where it is based on where the fighter is going, which is a green arrow, and where the pilot is looking, which is a blue arrow. The computer also adds a purple diamond, which shows if you shot at the diamond, you will have a 90% of hitting it if it continues on its current course and does not slow down or turn.

However, due to the fact of the complexity of this targeting system, a new A.I had to be introduced. The A.I is highly intelligent, and operates as the REO, the programmers even gave the A.I the ability to develop a personality that is based off of the pilot. The A.I eventually got as far to even become a real REO, with the look of an actual person under a flight suit that could run, walk and shoot like anyone else, and best of all, you couldn't tell if it was a robot or a human for how well it did on the ground. And if the pilot ever ejected, the A.I's goal was to ensure the real pilot made it to safety. Which in turn, means it ejected with the pilot. Although it is directly hooked in with the main computer system, when the pilot ejects, the 'seat' that the 'REO' is sitting on detaches from the main computer, and the A.I begins its subroutines of getting the real pilot home. This also saved money of making a new A.I for every fighter, and nearly all pilots become attached to their REO, which greatly improves the pilots reliability, as they can trust their A.I partner. Some pilots have even cried over losing their A.I partner after ejection. The

(A/N: Pretty clever stuff huh? And the reason they don't make A.I fighter pilots is because it costs to much money to make a robot like that, and the technology for it is just to big for a fighter to carry.)

To bad the simulators couldn't fully make the REO A.I. Since this was a one time thing, the A.I remained the same, and never truly became what it was programmed to be. _When I get my ship, I am definitely nicknaming my A.I Marcus._ Fox thought, as his HUD popped up showing a red square, and his ship had warning sound go off, and a green X approached his ship. Fox yanked back on the flight stick, releasing a few flares and chaffs, hoping to lose the missile. Success, the missile ran around the air and poofed into smoke in the distance. Fox veered his craft back towards the enemy fighter, the pilot of which realized his missile missed, was now on the run.

Like hell he'd let him get away.

He gave chase to the enemy fighter, also an SF-14. The ship was weaving back and forth, slowing down increasingly fast, Fox then began a scissors maneuver to essentially slow himself down, finally the pilot didn't have enough speed to turn without stalling, giving Fox the perfect opportunity for a finishing strike. The pilot flew straight, kicking full afterburners to get enough speed to move out of the way. Fox came down on the poor guy, guns blazing. The shots blew out the engines, causing the whole fighter to explode, the pilot didn't even have to time to eject.

_Well, if it's going to be this easy, I will have those credits in my hands in no time. _Fox thought menacingly, as his ship removed the red box, and targeted another enemy fighter. Fox turned towards it, and gave chase to the unsuspecting pilot...


	4. Chapter 6

A/N: Wing Star = Lylat Systems Starbucks.

Chapter 6: Winter Surprise

Fox climbed out of his canopy, after flying for 1 hour, it was finally 3:30, school was over. He looked around, looking for Bill, who nearly shot him down, but the time limit caught him and saved him. _Whew! _Fox thought. _That coulda gotten real nasty if that buzzer didn't sound... now where is Krystal? I believe she owes me 20 credits... _Fox walked over to the robot score keeper, who kept track of all the kills achieved in the simulator round. "Score Keeper, compare the 2 pilots kills of Fox McCloud and Krystal."

"Action approved. Processing... complete. Kills for Cadet Fox and Cadet Krystal were equal at 15. Awaiting next command."

Fox was stumped, _how could she have possibly tied me? It's impossible._ " Ok then, who scored the highest?"

"Action approved. Processing... complete. Highest kills this round was Cadet Bill with a total of 20 kills. Awaiting next command."

"Keeper, I am finished, await next cadet." Fox turned around and left

"Confirmed, awaiting next cadet or professor. Please see your professor to receive your dog tags and report card."

Fox went up to the gym teacher, who was obviously a body builder. "Sir, I need my dog tags and report card."

He looked down at Fox, then turned around and grabbed some dog tags, along with a report card. "Here you go, have a nice Winter break." He tried to sound enthusiastic, but he didn't like the students having breaks when they could be preparing for combat.

Fox immediately put on his dog tags, and took his report card, "thanks, you too." He turned and walked towards the entrance of the simulator room, well, the exit rather than the entrance now. He looked down at his grades, all A's and B's, naturally, but no one looked at those, it was always the spot in your class that mattered. _P.E, first, no surprise there. _He thought, and he scanned the rest of it, when one thing caught his eye, _Flight, second._ _Second? How does that happen? As far as I know, no one can possibly... _He smiled at this thought, only one person has ever managed to top him in flight _I didn't think you would be so good Bill. _

Fox was in the hallway, he let out a long drawn sigh. He knew he wanted to ask Krystal to date him, but managing to do that was harder than he thought. It's been 2 months since the alleyway incident, and he had still yet to ask her for at least a number. _Slow and steady, _he thought. _Slow and steady._ He figured today he would ask her to the Wing Star café. He was planning how he would do this in the hallway, waiting for her to walk out of the room. _I could possibly use the tie score, it could work. Or I could bluntly ask her to go to Wing Star. I gotta decide quick, the moment she sees me she could start reading my mind at any-_

"Second." Krystal had caught him thinking. "So, did you get your dog tags?"

He was caught entirely off guard by her appearance next to him. "I... oh, yeah. I got them." He put his hand under them and showed them to Krystal.

She put on a friendly smile, "they look good on you."

Fox about had a meltdown right there, it was rare he got compliments from her about what he was wearing. Usually they talked about the school work, and what classes were hard, rather than what they looked like. Maybe she only complimented him because there was no school to talk about anymore, since the break had started. "Thanks, I like how they look on you too." He said, he didn't even realize she didn't have them on.

She looked at him with a blank look on her face. "I don't even have mine on. How would you know what they look like on me?"

He looked at her neck, and realized she was right, she wasn't wearing her dog tags. "Well, uh..." He cleared his throat, causing Krystal to giggle, thereby causing Fox to blush. "Right... well, you do know we did tie in most kills in the simulator..." He waited for a reply, but Krystal only nodded. "Since we tied, I was thinking, why don't we... er buy each other... drinks... at, uh... Wing Star?"

Krystal thought for a moment, looking at the tiled floor of the hallway, then raised her head up to look at Fox. "Sure, that be nice."

Fox let out a sigh of relief, and tried to hide his excitement, "cool, when do you want to go there?"

Krystal let out a grin, "how about now? I could use a warm drink."

Fox checked his coat pocket and found 30 credits, incase Krystal didn't have any money, he could still buy her some coffee along with something for him. "Alright then, lets go. A vanilla lotte with whip cream sounds nice." They walked outside into the cold, it was snowing. The walkways and roads were clear, but the grass had at least 6 inches of snow, and lots of little kids were throwing snowballs, and building snowmen off to the side. Fox smiled as they began walking towards Wing Star 3 blocks away. "This is why I love winter." He said.

They walked in silence, watching people scatter around to get presents, trying to catch taxi's, meeting loved ones, and so on.

They walked along not really having much of a conversation, and Bill was watching in interest a good distance behind them. When he saw them go into Wing Star, he pulled out his phone and started calling two of his and Fox's friends. The dial tone kept going, then finally it picked up. "Hullo?" The voice on the line answered rather lazily.

"Hey, Logan? Come meet me outside of Wing Star, like right now." Bill said leaning against a light post.

"You serious? Why do you need me over there?"

"Let me put it this way Logan, Fox and Krystal at Wing Star." He waited for Logan to respond, but it never came. "So, do you like snowball fights?"

**10 Minutes Later...**

Fox and Krystal walked out of Wing Star. Full of the warmth of the drinks they just had, seemed to break the ice between them. "So, where to now?" Fox asked as they stood outside in the snow.

That was when Bill decided to make his appearance.

He popped out behind them, and thrusted himself between the two fox's, putting one arm around both their necks. "Hey Fox!" He said, and he turned his attention to Krystal, "Hey Krystal!" He shifted back to Fox. "So, what are you all doing?"

Fox and Krystal where extremely close to each others faces, thanks to Bill pulling their necks towards each other. Fox was doing all in his power not to make eye contact with Krystal, "Well, nothing really. Just... chillaxin'."

Bill began dragging them along the street, his hands still around their necks. "Great! Let's go for a walk in the park!"

Fox was doing his best to get out of the hold Bill had on him, but he couldn't pull himself out, so he tried verbal communication. "Bill! Bill!" He said as he struggled with all his might out of Bill's strong grip. "Why are we going to the park?" He continued to struggle, and every time he got close to getting out, Bill increased his choke hold, gagging him, and making him go back to square one and try again.

"Oh, nothing really. Just wanted to spend quality time with my best friends before Winter Break, thats all." Bill kept on his steady pace towards the park entrance, cutting no slack in his grip on Fox, but let Krystal out of the grip.

Fox looked up to see that Bill had released her from his all powerful choke hold. "Wha? Bill! Why did you let her out of the hold?" He groaned. Krystal giggled at his response and Fox made a pouty face.

Bill raised an eyebrow, "Oh, you want her face to be close to your face again? I can arrange that..." Krystal blushed slightly and turned to look the other way to hide it, she also took two or three small steps away from Bill.

Fox then started to throw out words. "N-no! I didn't mean that!" He then looked up at Krystal as much as he could from his limited view. "I- well, uh... don't take it the wrong way Krystal I like you... wait! That didn't come out right!" Bill was laughing at Fox while he was tripping and falling at his own words miserably. "I mean, I like you, but... gah! You get my point." He finally gave up and held his head down in shame, practically making Bill drag him.

After about 3 more minutes in the hold, Bill let Fox go, "Now, don't run away from me. Let's enjoy this walk in the park." Bill sounded a bit too cheery to be in the park. After all, he didn't exactly enjoy this place all that much to begin with.

"Bill, you got something planned in this place? You rarely ever go to the park to begin with." Fox was rubbing his neck as he said this, the choke hold was incredibly strong, _'didn't think Bill had it in him to have such a grip.'_ Fox thought.

Bill put on one of his stupid smiles, "Noooo..." He dragged out the single word to such an extent it was almost certain he had something planned. He studied Bill's expressions very carefully, a thing he picked up from his father. Who said 'You can learn a lot of things people are thinking about by the expression on their face'. Fox was so intent on staring Bill to confession that he didn't notice the 3 other animals with snowballs in their hands. After a few moments, he felt a pile of snow hit him in the back of the head. He twitched at the feel of it, causing a bit of laughter from Krystal.

He glared up at Bill, "Seriously Bill, what did you plan?"

"Just a bit of fun, such as a snowball fight, me and Logan versus you and Krystal." As soon as he finished he was hit in the side of the head by a snowball, he turned to see Joey, Aaron, and Logan standing there, all laughing as Logan high fived Joey. "Hey! Thought we were on the same team!"

Joey shouted back at Bill, "We were! Until me and Aaron showed up! En guard!" As Joey made another snowball and threw it at Fox, who ducked and it hit Krystal in the chest. Thus, beginning the Battle of Snow Park, as they dubbed it.

Fox dove into the snow, narrowly dodging Logan's iceball. Fox action rolled behind a tree, scooping up the snow into his gloves, forming an uneven spherical shape. He peered around the corner and saw Aaron running towards the tree, the snowball in his hand, he saw her get within arms reach. He threw his hand out of cover, palm facing eye level with her, and she ran straight into his un-thrown snowball.

Aaron squealed as the cold rushed over her face, sending a shiver down her spine. She saw Fox take off running after he hit her, and she screamed playfully, "You are SO dead Fox!" She scooped up some snow and molded it into a near perfect sphere, and chucked it at Fox. Unfortunatly, gravity took over, and it fell slightly short of hitting him. Her agony was short lived when Logan came out behind a bench and tackled him. Smashing his snowball into Fox's face. "Nice going Logan!"

Logan got off of Fox, he ran off and gave a thumbs up. She cheered at him and waved, but it was short lived. Bill had popped out behind a light post and chucked his snowball at Logan. The ball struck gold when it hit him in the back of the head at great force. Logan began to stumble and fell face first into the grass. Everyone laughed at him, even Logan laughed at his fall.

After about 15 minutes, a cease fire was called. The cold, damp, and tired warriors finally opened peace talks. The talk you ask? Who is buying who hot chocolate or coffee. Turns out Fox is buying Logan's and vice versa, Joey is buying Bill's and vise versa, and Krystal is buying Aaron's, and vise versa.

**20 Minutes Later...**

"Alright guys, lets head back to the Academy! Gotta pack up and get ready for Winter Break!" Bill raised his hand up in the air, making a fist. He looked down to see everyone else nodding and taking one last drink of whatever they got. "Ready to go?"

Everyone replied with a nod, and threw their empty cups away. As they walked out the door, the guys segregated themselves from the girls, talking about what they were going to do, and planning out late nights for playing video games. Aaron and Krystal hung back, talking about their family plans, and who the cutest couple would be. Which rounded back to Krystal asking, "Are you dating anyone Aaron?"

Aaron looked around and looked at the guys infront of them. "Oh, no one really. I think I found a guy, but I'm not entirely sure." Krystal opened her mouth ready to ask 'who is he?' but Aaron knew better. "Not telling, because you'll ruin the surprise." Krystal closed her mouth and looked forward. Aaron looked at Krystal, and had to ask, "Are you dating Fox?"

Krystal responded rather quickly, "No!" She half shouted, trying to hide the red she felt rising.

Aaron sighed, "Well, you sure act like you do, and it would be so cute! You all would be perfect for each other!"

Krystal began to try to talk her way out of the confession, "No we wouldn't! He is most definitely **not** a datable person! Did you see how childish he acted while we had the snowball fight? Could you imagine him out on a date? It would be a disaster!"

Aaron sighed again, "First off, you weren't much better acting than him during the fight. Second, he was able to order the drinks better than anyone else, he was clear with his speech and very patient with the out dated robot cashier. What's your excuse now?" She dared.

"Uh, well... never mind. We are almost back anyway." She hung her head in defeat, Aaron was very good at finding reasons for anything. Very good is a huge understatement actually.

When they walked inside, the building was very warm, so warm that Fox took off his jacket, exposing his skin tight green Underlay shirt. Aaron looked over at Krystal, "You should _really _consider him, you would be the envy of half the school at least." Aaron whispered.

"Shut up," Krystal pushed playfully, but had a small hint of pink on her face. Everyone quickly said their goodbyes, and left for their dorms. Only Fox and Krystal remained in the lobby area. As fate would have it, they stood under the doorway, and above them in the center, was a mistletoe.

Fox was first to notice it and had to ask, "Krystal, do you, er, believe in Christmas tradition."

She turned to face him, standing right infront of him, "Yeah, why?"

"Well, then, you should probably look up." He pointed his index finger up, and the tip of the finger was no higher than eye level.

Krystal looked up and blushed, Fox was doing his best to hide his, "Well, I guess it couldn't hurt me any..." She leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek. An awkward moment of silence, then she broke it with the words, "Well, I better go get packing see you around!" She didn't take off to fast like she was super embarassed, but at a regular pace.

Fox placed his hand on his cheek, and mumbled "I love Winter." And left.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter, sorry it took so long to post. But it should be worth it! And for anyone who is reading Lylat Wars, check it out, posted Chapter 11 (Bloopers were removed.)


	5. Chapter 7

A/N: The poll is OVER! And it seems that this story is continueing as a *drum roll* Regular School year with some twists! Yes, I do know that it was a tie, but I voted for Super Soldier Conflict to try and continue with the story faster, however, just minutes later someone posted for Regular school year. So thanks to all that voted, and now, on with the story!

Reference: Credit Card- unlike our credit cards, this card holds the currency inside its data. It is linked directly to the bank, so when you spend, it is deducted out. However, you can still carry actual credits with you.

Chapter 7: Mall Surprises

Fox shifted his hoverbike into a park, he removed his helmet and looked around to ensure he was in the right spot. When he was nearly smashed by another hover-vehicle looking for a parking spot, he knew this was the correct location.

The mall.

The over sized shopping area was a death trap for him. Finding a spot just to park in the crowded area nearly got him in an accident twice, and just attempting to get into the mall he was nearly smashed. How his mom got in and out of here without having at least one near death experience was beyond him. Not only was this mall a death trap, it was also filled with numerous teens. Specifically female, trying to catch the hottest guy under a mistletoe without the guy realizing it. That was why this was the trip he dreaded to take, at least alone. If he had his mom by him, the girls wouldn't try anything, but today, he was alone. He knew this was enemy territory, and being the lone pilot everyone was sure to look for, rescue sure looked bleak.

It was nearly impossible to hide his stature, everyone recognized him because he looked nearly identical to his dad, except the green eyes, those were his moms, and he was proud to have them. His eyes still did little to conceal him, he was also more or less one of the popular kids in school, even if he didn't know it. He did his best to avoid being in the spotlight, but god knows he can't avoid it.

Fox stood at the entrance to the mall, people walking in and out. The people walking in the mall with pockets full of cash, and people leaving with big shopping bags that he could only guess as to what filled them. The sliding doors never seemed to even budge from there respective open spots. He watched how everyone else walked in the store, studying it so he could get it perfect. That way he could attempt to hide his entrance.

After enough watching, he felt like he had the walk down, and was ready to attempt his best at blending in. Taking one deep breath in, he stepped in suit, and walked into the mall. He walked inside, and stood still to look around. The mall was huge. It looked like it had least six stories, and in the main room was the biggest Christmas tree he had ever seen. Christmas music was playing, but barely audible over the loud talk of the mall. Fox only had one more thing to do, to either confirm or deny his fear. He scanned the area, and sure enough, mistletoes were _everywhere_.

This simple shopping deed just turned into Mission Impossible.

But Fox was determined to get his job done. He pulled out his list of things to buy, it wasn't extensive, just a few things he needed to buy for his friends and family. His first stop was the Rig store. He put his list away and went over to the map to find out where in the world this store was.

He must have studied the map for fifteen minutes, he probably also looked like a lost puppy. That was his first mistake of the day. While he was studying the map for those fifteen minutes, a few teenagers kept their eye on him, and they were whispering to one another on who would attempt to get him under a mistletoe. One finally walked over to him and asked him, "Hey, are you lost?"

Fox froze, he slowly turned around and saw a feline, with a white fur coat. "Ah, yeah. Guess I am." He rubbed the back of his head nervously, _'so much for going unnoticed.' _He thought.

This time she froze, and found it hard to speak, "Oh my god! Y-you're Fox McCloud!" She pointed and squealed.

He put a hand to her mouth, "Not so loud!" When he noticed her start to tremble, he removed his hand. "Can you just tell me which way the Rig store is?"

Fortunately, she wasn't thinking straight, and instead of showing him, she told him the way to go. "Just go straight and take the first turn on the left, and you'll be there." He decided to make his leave before she could recover from her shock and excitement, by the time she realized she made a mistake, he was long gone.

When he reached the Rig store, he sighed in relief, "Note to self, don't look like you're lost." He said lowly, barely audible to even him. He looked around the Rig store to see numerous weapon parts, barrels, hammers, hilts, and so on. He walked up to the shop owner who looked like he was constructing a custom rifle for someone.

Fox walked up behind him and the shop owner stopped his work and turned around from the workbench. "Ah, can I help you Mr. McCloud?" Then he noticed Fox's eye color, "Ah, sorry Fox, you just resemble your father a bit too much." Fox chuckled lightly. "Anyway, can I help you with anything Fox?"

Fox nodded his head and reached into his pocket and pulled out his list of stuff to buy. "Yes you can." He looked at his list on what he needed from the store, "I need a Genova Mark III Energy Cell, and a Rolland Grip."

The shop keeper looked at him funny, "Your father really does take the expensive stuff, but I suppose it's not out of your price range." He walked over to his register and behind glass he pulled out a small square, and a grip for a pistol. "Ok, the grip is 70 credits, and the energy cell is 700. Plus a 30 credit tax, you owe me 800." Fox's eyes widened in surprise, just for his dads gift, he blew half of his allowance. The shop keeper slapped him on the shoulder, "It's ok, your dad is a favorite customer of mine, I'll make the energy cell half price, deal?" Fox nodded his head quickly and handed him his credit card. Fox thanked him and before he could walk out the shop keeper called out to him, "Fox, catch." He tossed a small black rectangle towards him, "He told me to rig this transporter up for you. Don't worry it's prepaid and preset to the coordinates of your room. Just point it at the bag, and push the green button." Fox did as he was told and when he pressed it, his bag disappeared to what he assumed was his room.

"Wow, thanks!" He slid the transporter into his left pocket, and its compact size made it barely more noticeable than a cellphone.

"Consider it my Christmas gift. Now you got other places to be, so get going!" He motioned his hands towards the door and Fox nodded, he walked out of the store and pulled out his list, along with a pen. He marked his dad off, and looked below that, next was a gift for his mom. He looked below the title of mom and found it to be empty. He blinked a few times to ensure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him, and he realized she didn't ask for anything. He started to walk aimlessly in the labyrinth of people, looking at store titles to see if he could find anything to get her.

He walked for about twenty minutes before finally sitting down to think. He was stumped, if he could think like a girl, he could have a chance at getting her the right gift. He sat in the bench in a quiet manor, it seemed he was invisible now. He looked up from the floor to look in front of him at the wrong time. Just a few meters in front of him, he saw a white lion sneak behind a tortoise and attempt to take his wallet. The lion almost succeeded too, but the tortoise felt it slide out and he turned around. The white lion was caught, and he bolted off. "Hey! That mans got my wallet! Stop him!" The tortoise shouted, attempting to chase him down.

Fox had to admit, the lion picked a good suspect to pick pocket, most tortoise's are slow, meaning he could get an easy get away, but he also despised how cliché the whole act was. Fox knew that it was the wrong thing to do, and he did everything in his power to stay seated and let someone else handle it. However, his fathers gene's wouldn't let him, and he bolted off after the white lion.

This was mistake number two.

If he had waited, the police in the mall would have caught him before he left. But Fox was determined to do this now, no sense in wasting that energy now. He chased the lion through the thick crowds, he had to admit, the lion was incredibly fast. If it weren't for his white coat, Fox probably would have lost him by now. Soon, the lion was getting a bit tired, and Fox finally began gaining on him. It was still a high speed chase never the less. The lion was almost to freedom, the entrance was in clear view. The lion had slowed down quite a bit, obviously exhausted. Fox took this opportunity and sped to as fast as he could go. He lunged at the lion and smashed into his back. The lion toppled over the excess weight, and slammed head first into the tiled floor. The impact knocked him out cold, and even though the lion stopped, Fox didn't. He fell over the lion and flipped so he was sliding with his feet first towards the entrance.

Today just wasn't his day, the floor was recently mopped, which meant he would slide even further. He approached the door and someone was standing still, apparently not noticing him sliding towards them. "Hey! Move! Quick!" He shouted, and he got the persons attention, well as he approached them, he found out it was a she. The only problem was she didn't realize what was asked of her until he skidded into her. The soles of his shoes slammed into her shoes, and the force of impact made her fall onto him. It was a rather... compromising spot to say the least. Before impact Fox had closed his eyes, and when he opened them he found out he was just centimeters away from a blue vixen. "Ah. H-hi Krystal!" He said rather quickly, "Who woulda thought we'd see each other here." He tried to shift himself, "What an awkward... position..." He trailed off as he realized where his right hand palm was. He smiled awkwardly and slowly his gaze shifted, and he was touching something that he shouldn't be. When he trailed his eyes back up, he had turned to a shade of red he never thought possible. They quickly scrambled off of each other and looked away from each other to hide their utter embarrassment. "I-I'm so s-sorry about that Krystal."

"I-it's ok, I should've moved quicker." She said lowly in embarrassment.

A grey wolf appeared wearing a police uniform, he looked at the unconscious white lion and then looked at Fox. "You," He pointed at Fox and Fox pointed at himself, "Yes you, did you stop this man?" Fox nodded quickly and repeatedly. Fox realized this was turning into a big scene, his cover was blown. There was no way he could get the rest of his gifts today.

Fox took a look around and everyone started applauding him, it wasn't even that hard. He just stood there until it died down and people went on with their business. He turned around and saw that Krystal had vanished too. "Shit! There goes my chance." He slapped his forehead. He pulled out his list and found he only need to get his friend Bill a gift, and his mom a gift. He left the mall and walked out towards his hover bike. Then, as if a light bulb turned on, he realized he had just given his mom a gift. His mom was always telling him to do the right thing, and he did just that today. He pulled out his paper and pen and wrote down 'Do the right thing until X-mas is over'. Her gift would be the easiest to do, but then he thought it could be a bit hard to do that. So then below it he wrote 'Or buy her a gift card for Wing Star'. With that he smiled to himself and slid the pen and pencil away. He climbed on his hoverbike to get home.

That is, if he could make his way out of the damn traffic jam in the parking lot.

A/N: Don't worry, he will return next chapter to finish his shopping list. Don't forget to review! Reviews help and encourage writers to continue their stories, or it lowers their self esteem. Remember, I'll take criticism, just don't slap me in the face with it.


	6. Chapter 8

A/N: Thanks to all who reviewed, keeps me writing.

Side note here, check out 'Buying us Time', a Lost Planet fic I decided to write. Or just enjoy this chapter of Star Fox Academy!

Reference: Holo *****something*****: Video gaming system, all virtual reality (use your imagination on how this is done)

Chapter 8: Reasons for Gifts

_flashback_

_'thoughts'_

"dialogue"

**That Next Day...**

Fox trudged in the blanket of white, the familiar crunch of the snow under his foot with every step he took. He breathed in and out calmly, and on occasion out his mouth just to see his breath and watch it disperse. He continued his way down the sidewalk, the blue sky of the afternoon and the sun gave the snow a light turquoise color. Today was the day he would get his shopping done, he had committed himself to it.

He had learned many lessons from yesterdays experience. The first was to walk to the mall rather than to drive. It was sheer hell attempting to find a spot to park, and it was the most frustrating thing to even attempt to get out. He spent more time in the parking lot last time than he did actually buying stuff.

Fox had also learned about looking at maps. He couldn't stand and stare at it for more than ten minutes before he had to leave. That didn't mean he couldn't go find another map and look at for ten minutes if he was still lost, or at least he hoped. The mall was still a bit complicated for him to understand, and at this time of year it only worsened.

His final lesson was to look like you were meeting someone. If you looked like you were in a hurry, _most _people would let you through, and most of the teenagers wouldn't have the time to trick you.

To avoid detection this time he also wore a black beanie with a pair of aviators, this was so people wouldn't recognize him as Fox McCloud, or as the guy who stopped the thief from yesterday.

He arrived at the mall to find it packed with even more people than yesterday. He could've swore the ground _spawned _people. He shook his head and decided to walk into his personalized hell. Fox entered the grand room with the large tree and found the nearest bench to take a seat down on.

Fox decided it would be a great idea to refresh his memory, and check his surroundings like he did yesterday. He skimmed the large open area, and found mistletoes in even _more _places. He quickly looked above him to insure his safety from random females coming to him and attempting to kiss him. He eased off some stress when he found there wasn't one, at least in sight, above him. He did a more thorough search through the thick of people to find what he was looking for. When he spotted numerous groups of four or more eying him down and giggling. Like a hunter determining its prey, and he knew he was a prime target, and this confirmed his fear.

He would be hunted through out the day by females.

He took out his list and scanned it thoroughly, if he looked busy, they might just ignore him. He skimmed over it looking for the gift to get first, and decided on Bills gift to start with. His gift would take him to the safe haven of Aero-Gaming, no girl in their right mind would step foot into there unless they had a very VERY legitimate reason.

The plan wasn't full proof though, he would cross through some dangerous territory on his way. He would have to cross through some heavily contested territory, yesterday when he studied the map he found numerous shops that sold perfume, clothes, and whatever seemed to interest teens at his age. Though a long hallway, and at the end of that inconvenient hallway was the shop he needed to get to. He continued sitting and pleaded for a wingman to walk through the front door so he could give him up as a sacrifice.

Unfortunately no one came to help him. He was flying solo through the hallway. He looked up to see the group of females around him begin to look at him more seriously, that was his cue to get mobile before they could have a chance at him. No one knew who he was yet, since his hat and glasses protected most of his identity to people.

He began walking towards the hallway with hands in his pockets, he rolled his left sleeve up to reveal something that looked like a communicator his father used for ground missions, but his was a music player. He hit a button and out came a pair of wireless ear buds for his music, he put each in their respective ear and put it on shuffle.

Whatever he would listen to would be much better than the Christmas music he was hearing everywhere.

He walked with a small bounce in his step every now and then a twist as a small way of 'dancing' while still retaining some casual walking. He was doing this all the way towards the hallway, the music keeping his mind off of his perilous task ahead of him. His twist would prove to be a fatal mistake and make his upcoming mission worse.

During one of his favorite songs he decided to do a twist. He had done about thirty so far and nothing had happened, so why should it have happened now? As he went into his twist, he didn't notice the guy speeding towards him. When Fox finished his twist, he was face to face with the guy, and didn't even have time to react. They collided, while the other guy kept going Fox fell and his aviators flew off him. "Sorry!" Was all the man said before vanishing into the crowd. Fox felt his eyes adjust to the lights of the bright mall lights, he reached for his eyes to make sure he had his sunglasses on. However, a resounding crack and crunch proved his fears right. He had just heard the marvelous shattering of his aviators, and just when he got to the beginning of the hallway too.

He got up off of the ground and checked for his sunglasses, and there they were, bent frames and glass shattered. He looked ahead to see his dreaded fear of the hallway become much larger, and it seemed the hallway lengthened itself before his eyes. He took one steady look around him at the crowded area in front of him, his eyes widened in shock. There weren't just mistletoes, there was one every few feet, and there was no way to get around them, there were just to damn many.

Hope seemed to have abandoned him, and at the worst possible time. He took a few steps towards a wall and leaned against it slamming his eyes shut in frustration. This mall was out to get him, there was no other way to explain it. Yesterday was his run in with Krystal, and today was his shades shattering. Can only go down hill now right? He sighed and remained in his comfortable spot, removing his beanie and putting it into his pocket. He finally mustered up the courage to begin his hike, but before he began, someone tapped him on the shoulder. He opened his eyes to see a white fox looking at him. She was female, "Um, can I help you?" She pointed up, and Fox's eyes widened.

His head slowly trailed up to look above him. When his eyes finally made it to the top and looking above him, his body shattered. Above him was what he was trying to avoid while in the mall, and the one time he let his guard down, the mistletoe took its chance. He looked down quickly and started fumbling with an excuse, "Uh... um... i-it wasn't there before!" She didn't seem phased by this and scooted closer, "Hey! What are you doing? I-I gotta go! My friend is waiting for me!" She didn't budge, "P-please?" He sounded pathetic, he had drug himself so low as to beg to attempt to get out of this predicament. She shook her head and scooted even closer. Fox backed off, and tried to get around her, she just stepped in his way. "Are you really going to do this to me?" She nodded her head. "Y-you don't understand! I'm... getting a present for my... girlfriend!" _'Yeah! Let's go with that!' _She lowered her head and looked sad, "Hey, if it's any consolation, you at least had the guts to talk to me." She nodded her head, keeping it down. He wasn't going to be the asshole of the mall, he had to do something. He made sure no one was looking and gave her a quick peck on the cheek, "Merry Christmas." He quickly retorted and jogged off.

He made it across the hallway without any further interruptions. Fox came out of the long row of 'chick' shops, as Bill would call them. He slowed his jog to a walk and approached his safe haven, Aero-Gaming. He slouched over in relief, and then raised himself back up. He stopped right in front of the entrance to the store, and he turned his attention to his left, he slapped his hands over his eyes in disbelief.

There had been a second entrance right next to Aero-Gaming, and his dumb ass self passed it up.

He was thoroughly disgraced at himself, how could he have possibly missed that entrance? He used it every time he went to go buy a video game. _'That's it! This mall is out to get me!' _He walked into the store to pick up Bill's gift, he walked up to the guy behind the desk, and leaned over the counter, "'Scuse me, but do you have a copy of Wing Commander?" (A/N: Extra brownie points to anyone who knows the real game. Rest in peace Origin ;_;)

"We sure do! Just got our Christmas shipment yesterday." He turned around and pulled out two copies of the game, "You buying it for the Holo Shot system or Holo Vision?"

Fox put his hand to his chin, Bill had both of those systems, but both were different. Holo Shot wasn't as focused on the graphics, but more on the players enjoyment, generally the environments were more interactive. Holo Vision was more focused on graphics, and not so much on player interaction. "Which one is it better for?"

The guy at the counter put the one away for the Holo Vision and put the other one by the scanner, "To be honest the graphics aren't much different in the game, and Holo Vision perfects the space combat and the ejection sequence perfectly." He scanned the game, and put it in a bag, "70 credits, and it's all yours." Fox took out his credit card and wove it between his fingers before handing it to him. "Show off." Fox just smiled, he got the card back seconds later along with the game. "See you next time you need a game."

Fox nodded and did a masculine wave (A/N: That is RIGHT! A **Masculine **wave!) and left the store. He turned to his left and began walking towards the hallway, before remembering the second entrance. He swung his foot, letting its weight shift him to face the other way, and he walked out.

He walked out and in the corner of his eye spotted a familiar blue vixen walking on the sidewalk to his right, she was kind of kicking the snow, obviously a bit bored. Fox needed to apologize for yesterday, or at least that was his first intention, _'gotta ask her out' _he quickly shot that idea down. He turned towards her and shouted, "Hey! Krystal!"

She looked up from the snow and spotted Fox, "Hey Fox!" She had a bit more enthusiasm in her step, and Fox had to do everything in his mind to keep certain thoughts out. She got within three feet of Fox and stopped, "So, what's up?"

Fox smiled and rubbed the back of his head with his free hand, "You know, the usual. Getting this," He shook the game. "For a buddy of mine."

She looked at Fox, then at the bag, then back at Fox, and out of the blue asked, "Fox, are you... You know... Gay?" Fox busted out laughing, and fell to the snow. This day just couldn't get any better. Krystal crossed her arms aggravated by his response. "What's so funny Fox?"

Fox got up out of the snow, leaving his imprint of fitful laughter down in the snow. "It's nothing, just that question came outta no where. If you think it's because I got Bill a gift, it's a looong story." Fox brushed off the snow that stuck to him.

Krystal put her hands on her hips and shifted her weight to one foot, "Well, I got the time for a 'looong' story. So do share."

Fox nodded his head, "I hope you don't got anywhere to be. Shall we walk, and I talk?"

She started in a slow walk away from the mall. "I'm all ears..."

_It was around Christmas time, Fox was only 4, and he and Bill were at Fox's house. Their parents were telling stories about Christmas, and other things in the dinning room. While Fox and Bill were sitting in the living room, playing guessing games. "Oh! Bill guess who I am!" The little fox asked his friend. He ran as fast as his little legs could carry him, and put on some over sized aviators that took up most of his face. "Peppy! You got a piwate on yo tail! Ow get em!" Fox mimicked that of a pilot veering his fighter._

_Bill was jumping up and down with his hand raised, "Oh! Oh! I know! Yo daddy!" Fox nodded, and the aviators slid off his face and onto the floor. "Oh! I gawt one!" Bill ran over to the couch and took his baseball cap and put it on. "Vewy good James! You kelled all da piwates! But we got anover meshion for you!" Then he put on a sloppy salute, to further imitate his role._

_Fox put his finger to his chin and patted it, then he raised his hand in the air index pointing up. "I know! You're Genewal Peppah!" _

_Bill nodded, and Fox put back on the aviators."There you are James!"_

_Fox smacked his head in an attempt at a salute, causing the glasses to slide a bit. "Sawy, but dem piwates wah a han-ful!" They had a fit of giggles and laughs as they reenacted a fake conversation between James and General Pepper._

"Awww! You all must have been so cute!" Krystal squealed, getting a mental image of a four year old Fox and Bill, but mostly of Fox, and how fun it would have been to squeeze him.

Fox nodded, "Yeah, I even got a picture that our parents took of us while I had the aviators on and Bill had his cap on. Anyway to continue the story..."

"_Smile for the camera!" Vixy said as Fox and Bill both wrapped arms around each other necks, both surprised by the other made a funny face of fake choking. She snapped the picture and showed them it. "I'll make sure you both get one!" When she left to show the others in the dinning room, both the fathers laughed._

_A few hours passed of the two kids playing with blocks, and talking. "Hey Fox?" Bill asked._

"_Yeah Bill?" Fox responded, attempting to spell his last name which came out as 'MkClowd'._

"_Nex' time, I wanna be James." Bill tried to spell Corneria, and it came out 'Corn area'._

_Fox nodded and had a bright idea, "I know! I'll buy you a pair of sungwasses fo Chwismas!"_

_Bill caught on, "An' I'll buy you a hat! Dat way we can swish roles, an' never wowy about shawing!"_

"...Then that Christmas day, he gave me a baseball cap just like his, and I gave him a pair of aviators just like mine. Ever since then we've given each other a gift for Christmas."

"Wow, didn't know you all were so close."

Fox laced his hands behind his neck, "He's like a brother to me, but he's about two months older than me. So technically I'd be the younger brother." Fox then flipped his phone out and checked the time, 5 o'clock in the evening. "I gotta go Krystal, but before I go..." He pulled out a scrap sheet of paper and pen. "If you need someone to talk to over the break, or wanna do somethin', give me a call." He handed her the piece of paper, "Consider it a lame ass Christmas present."

She took the paper and put it in her coat pocket, "Consider this a lame ass thanks." She bent up and pecked him on the check, "And you were under a mistletoe. Bye!" She turned and began walking home. Fox was a bit to shocked to say anything back, but instead looked up.

There was no mistletoe.

A/N: This was fun to write. I decided since it's getting close to Christmas time, I'd write something about it in the fic. Do not fear action packed fans, once this fluff is over, I have some hardcore action planned. You can take that last sentence however you want, he could have been possibly set up by Bill, or there wasn't one to begin with.


	7. Chapter 9

A/N: If I don't get the next chapter posted by Christmas, consider this my lame ass gift.

Reference: L-SMG-501: The Star Fox Universe MP-5.

Chapter 9: Lockdown

**2 weeks after Christmas, 7:00 A.M**

Fox was in a peaceful slumber back at his dorm in the Academy. Nothing but the darkness of night, the sound of a low breeze, and the warmth of the covers. In dreams like these, everything is peaceful, just something you can't force yourself out of. Fox was sure putting good use to those words, nothing dared wake him this morning. Except for that loud buzzing noise.

The first chime startled him awake, he bolted upright before the clock even had a chance to chime a second time. The second chime forced him to realize that he was only dreaming, and by the tenth chime, he had turned it off and got out of bed. Fox yawned, rubbed his eyes and lazily got out of bed. His white gym shorts hanging just below the rim of his boxers, he looked above his bunk to see Bill still sleeping soundly in his.

Fox jumped onto the edge of the bunk and pulled his chest above and clung into the edge of the bunk with one hand. The other shook Bill, gently at first, then more violently. Fox's Christmas wish wasn't fulfilled, Bill was still the same old heavy sleeper. Fortunately, he would leap out of bed if he heard something as loud as an explosion in the room next to him. Fox dropped down from the bunk and walked over to the new stereo system they got (Christmas gift from Bills dad.) The speakers could pump out the sound equivalent to a carpet bombing.

He searched for the loudest metal band they owned, and then picked their loudest song. He gently put the disc into the stereo, and went to the loudest song. He left the song on pause at the beginning and grabbed his ear muffs. Fox wanted to retain some of his hearing, so that's why he has a pair. After ensuring they were successfully on, he laid the stereo remote next to Bill.

Now was the best part. Fox turned the volume and bass to max. Fox hit the sideways triangle, it would take nine seconds to get to its first word, which was sure to wake him. Fox counted down, 4... 3... 2... 1..., and the first word screamed "BIIIIIIITCH!" Bill was startled awake, and fell out of his bed. He smashed into the carpet, and Fox hit the square button, allowing the music to stop, and removed his ear muffs, tossing them somewhere in the room.

"Good morning sunshine!" Fox laughed as he held out his hand to help his friend get up.

Bill's eyes were wide from all the adrenaline that was pumped into his system from the loud music. He laid sprawled around the floor, although he looked physically together, he was in pieces, well he felt that way. The adrenaline left him and he mentally stabilized, and took control of his body. To show he was back in control, he changed his eyes into a more narrow look, and muttered just loudly enough for Fox to hear, "Asshole." Fox chuckled and Bill took the hand as he was pulled up.

Fox released Bill the moment he was up and turned around to the holo-screen, "Screen on, radio please." The holo-screen turned on and music was turned playing through speakers. Fox opened a drawer that had his clothes in it and took out a black underlay shirt and a pair of his olive-drab pants. Bill did the same, he took out his worn jeans and a white underlay shirt. They both stopped what they were doing, and quickly turned their hands to look like pistols. The faced each other like they were getting ready for a shoot out.

Bill's was made first, "Ha! You're dead!" He turned his pistol into a pointing finger. "Which means I get first shower!" Bill pointed at himself, and turned around to walk into the bathroom. He locked the door, once inside Bill shouted, "All your hot water are belong to me!" Fox grunted loudly in response as the water turned on.

Fox walked over to the fridge they owned, and opened it up, searching for something to eat. "Expired, expired, expired, lunch, lunch... damn we need to restock this thing." Fox closed the fridge and heard the phone they had in the room ring. Fox walked over to the wireless phone and clicked the 'talk' button. "Hullo?" he answered.

"Hey Fox." It was Joey, who stifled a yawn. "Was it necessary to blare that music?" Fox could hear Logan in the background talking to someone.

"Yeah, it was." Fox yawned a bit himself. "Hey, who's Logan talking too?" Fox asked as he leaned against the white wall next to the bunks.

"Oh, that... Boy do I have a story for you Fox..." Joey began, "Well, you see, last week during the New Years party. The one you, me, Bill, Logan, Aaron, Allie, Krystal all went to?"

Fox nodded, even though it couldn't be seen, "Yeah, and Logan made that ridiculous New Years Resolution of making out with a hot girl?"

"Yeah, that one. Anyway, after you and Bill left, Krystal did so shortly after. Me and Allie were talking, and I noticed that Logan was no where to be seen."

Fox looked at the clock, then at the bathroom, the water had finally turned off. "Uh-huh."

"Get this, me and him had to get home soon. It was around about 2 in the morning, we had to be home by 3, so I go looking for him. When I found him, they, as in Logan and Aaron were outside in the dark... and lets just say Logan needed a new New Years Resolution. So now, they are official, but you can't tell anyone, blah blah blah. You get the point."

Fox waited for a second then asked the question, "Is he whipped? And if he is, how bad is it?"

"Oh yeah, he is whipped beyond belief. She has talked him to seeing more chick-flicks by her than I have by all of my girlfriends combined. And it's only been one weeks." Fox heard a muffled voice in the background that said 'Hey! I am not whipped!' Fox knew that Joey had changed his attention to Logan, "Yes. You are whipped. She's probably bought you a collar and a leash, and I bet you've already worn it." Joey redirected his voice to Fox, "Anyway, we are going to be stopping by Wing Star this morning in about ten minutes, wanna meet us there?"

Fox saw Bill walk out of the bathroom, already dried, and putting on his clothes. "Yeah, we'll meet you there." Fox clicked the phone and tossed it back on the charger. "Bill, we're going to meet Logan and Joey at Wing Star for some breakfast. Don't bother eating something from the fridge, it's probably mutated." Before Fox entered the bathroom, he smiled and turned his head to Bill, "And who knows? Maybe we'll run into that exchange student you were eying down last week."

Bill's head perked up, and shouted, "Hey! I was **not **staring!"

Fox stopped in his tracks and raised an eyebrow, "Oh? If you weren't staring then what were you doing?"

Bill looked at his feet shoving his hands into his pockets, "...inspecting..." Bill looked up to see Fox smirking, Bill laughed and threw a pillow at him, "Take your shower!" Fox caught the pillow and tossed it on the ground. With that, entered the shower.

Ten minutes flat they were walking down the street, hands in pockets, dog tags swooshing around with every step they took. The snow had melted, and it was around 40 degrees in the city. The rising sun gave the glass of the skyscrapers the orange tint that practically sparkled. They arrived in the small place that was known as Wing Star, and found Joey and Logan sitting with coffee and having a leisure conversation.

About five minutes in they had made their way around to Bill's eying the exchange student.

"...and Bill was eying her down all night!" Fox took another drink of his latte.

Bill threw his hand into the air, "I told you! I was not staring! I was inspecting." It was a pitiful defense, but hey, better than admitting to staring.

Fox checked his phone and the time, his eyes widened in shock, it was 7:55, they needed to be in class by 8:00. "Shit guys! We got five minutes to be in school and class!"

"**WHAT?!**" The other three shouted in shock. They got strange looks by everyone in the small café, and they bolted out the door, sprinting towards the school about half a mile away. Each of the 16 year olds muttering something of their own.

Bill: "Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck."

Fox: "The teach. Is going. To **KILL** us!"

Logan: "If I'm late I'll never hear the end of it from Aaron."

Joey: "I can't get another tardy! I'll get Saturday school with Mr. Woodyard!"

They must have looked weird, a gang of four teenagers rushing down the sidewalk, muttering curses and whats going to happen to them if their late. They jumped a few fences, taking every shortcut possible, and they surely looked like free runners. They finally arrived on Academy grounds, with two minutes to spare. They ran into the building scurrying to their class, forgetting about their stuff, but in a mad sprint to their classes. Logan and Joey split from Fox and Bill, who went down the east wing.

They arrived in class just as the bell rang, "So glad you two could join us Mr. Grey, Mr. McCloud." He filled out two pink slips, and handed them each one. "I'll see you all after school."

Bill was gasping for breath but still found it in him to speak, "B-but... we just ran... half a mile... can't we... get out of it... just this... once?"

"Afraid not, but look on the bright side, you won't be sleeping at all during my class!" The teacher walked away, and both Fox and Bill feel on the ground and groaned, "Unless you all want to see me tomorrow after school also, might I suggest you get in your seat." The two got up off the floor and fell into their seats, still panting for breath. "Now today we will learn about the SF-14's aerodynamics. Like how much it can pull in a G, max speed within the atmosphere, and so on..."

The class went on like normal for about twenty minutes or so, before _that _announcement came on.

"... now if you multiply the the speed your going, divided by the G-diffuser system, and the velocity of the turn, which is 7 G's you get roughly-"

Then the PA came on, "Students and Teachers, as of now we are on lockdown, lock your doors, and prepare-" A laser shot was heard, and voices saying stuff like 'now our cover's blown!' and 'I'll take the east wing, you go to the west.' and lots of 'yes sir!' along with one word that struck fear into everyone,

"And don't forget to take hostages."

The whole class was silent in shock, the teacher ran to his desk and pulled out a laser pistol, and loaded it with an energy cell. "Everyone against the wall, NOW!" They ran to the door, huddling against the wall next to it, still remaining in the class.

A few minutes passed of silence, then they heard a voice outside, "I've found a class, students are inside if the camera's are correct. Doors locked, blowing it down, commencing radio silence, Alpha four out." The teacher tightened his grip on the pistol, and they heard the charges being armed outside, and within a few seconds there was smoke, and no door. The person rushed in and the teacher pointed his gun at him, but the guy who spoke earlier was one step ahead, and he grabbed the nearest person he could. Which happened to be Miyu. "Ah! Put that weapon down, we wouldn't want to cause a mess in front of all these students know would we? Slide it over here, now!" The teacher complied, and slid the gun across the floor. "That was easier than I expected." He tossed Miyu into the desks, and picked up the pistol. He turned to the students, "Now, two of you lucky assholes gets to come with me to the gym, and be held for ransom, anyone up to the task?" Everyone didn't even bother to answer, they just sat in their spot, shaken by what he was asking them to do. "No one? Very well then, I'll just shoot you all one, by one, until finally someone decides to." He pointed the pistol at the head of a white fox who was sitting their, and it was a she. She realized she was first picked and began to whimper, and then started to cry. "Alrighty then, anyone wanna step up to the plate? Take one for the team?" No one stood, the girl sobbed even more, putting her head to her knees. "Going once," He put the gun to her head, "Going twice," He clicked the safety off.

"I'll do it," Everyone turned to see Fox standing up, his hands limp at his sides, but he was standing tall.

"Very good my main man, but I said two of you, so I'll start the countdown again. Going once-"

Then Bill stood up, "To hell with it, if you're going to kill us all, might as well go out first."

The guy lowered his gun, he looked like to be a gorilla in a Kevlar vest, from the girls head, "Good choice, now get out that door. Quickly!" Bill and Fox left the room. "As for the rest of you all... I'll kill you all here, and n-"

Bill screamed, "What the fuck are you doing Fox? Trying to get yourself killed?" The gorilla bolted out the door, to see Fox just outside the door, holding his hands up. The gorilla knew he was tricked the moment he didn't see Fox halfway down the hallway, and was getting ready to turn and shoot Bill, but by that time it was to late. Bill grabbed the gorilla's neck and snapped it. Instant death, and the gorilla fell lifeless on the floor. Fox grabbed the gorilla's weapon, which was an L-SMG-501, (Laser-Submachine gun) and Bill took the laser pistol.

Fox checked the energy cell on the gun then loaded it back, turning to Bill. "Let's go free the west wing first, we may not be tactical assassins, but by god we know if the S.W.A.T team ain't here by now, we are quite possibly on our own."

Bill nodded and turned back to the class, and stuck his head inside, "Hey teach, just letting you know we'll be out and about, and about those D-halls, can we just say they never happened?" The teacher nodded quickly and rapidly. "Awesome. Well, we'll be back in an hour. Wish us luck!"

A/N: I had this idea floating around for quite a while. Day dreamed it one day in World Civ. Anyway, have fun reading this, and if I don't get around to the next chapter by December 25th, Merry Christmas!


	8. Chapter 10

A/N: Sorry this took so long. I kind of had a hard time thinking this one out fully. I had to rewrite this chapter at least 5 times.

Chapter 10:

Had she heard correctly? Were they in a lock down for real? Were they after someone? Are they a terrorist organization?

To many questions, and no answers. Nothing to signify an answer to anything. Not even Krystal's telepathy could get anything from outside the class room. Their thoughts were well concealed from her, either they were highly trained special ops, or had special equipment to disrupt her telekinesis link. Either way, it was bad news.

Outside of the classroom, the only thing that could be heard were some miniature explosions in other parts of the school, and they were few and far between. So far she had counted twenty.

Well, now twenty-one.

That one was incredibly close to this room, perhaps even the classroom next door. This ruled out that this was just a standard break in, this was obviously a terroristic threat. She stopped using her telepathic powers and listened in on the conversation happening in the next room.

"Alright everyone against the wall now! It's time to play 'Guess that hostage'. Well, not really, I pick you and you for my hostages." She leaned closer against the wall, trying to check for anyone she knew voice wise. When she heard no one, she begin using her telekinesis to try and establish a link to anyone she knew. Unfortunately, they were all to scared for her to get a decent connection to. She had tried scanning for Fox, but something was wrong. While she can find his brain pattern, he isn't responding. Either he is dying, unconscious, or flat out ignoring her. She hoped it was only option number two or three and not one.

They were in another calm again. After that recent explosion all she could hear was the beating of her racing heart, and her breathing along with everyone else's. Where was the police? Or better yet, the S.W.A.T team? Surely they must know what's going on, a break in this big can't go unnoticed.

But maybe it had.

This has been underway for about 40 minutes now. Still nothing from the outside world. She tried using her telepathy to reach the police department and tell them of the situation, but alas, they were out of reach. She cursed herself for not keeping her powers keen.

Then, their was a faint knock on the door, and a paper slid under the door. Krystal, being the closest, picked up the paper, and it read:

'It's Bill Grey, open up.'

She mentally kicked herself for not trying to scan for his brainwaves earlier, she used a kick telepathic check, and sure enough, it was Bill's brainwaves and it wasn't blocked. She opened the door, and everyones eyes opened in horror at what she just did. Bill Grey stepped in cautiously, and everyone let out a breath of relief they probably didn't even know they were holding.

"Krystal, I thought for sure you were already taken." He lowered his laser pistol to his side, and closed the door behind him very gently.

"Taken? What do you mean?" She got up to her feet very slowly to meet Bill's eyes.

He looked at the entire class, and then the teacher. Krystal wiped her head around for a brief second to see everyone in a state of inner panic. Krystal turned her head back to Bill, who had lowered his voice. "Whoever these people are, they are taking hostages. Me and Fox have been getting everyone we can out." He walked over to the teacher, muttering something, and the female Akita nodded.

"Everyone," She began, her voice barely audible in the silence, "Bill here has found a way for us to get out of here. Follow him out and get the police." Everyone silently got up, creeping towards Bill, who had already gotten the door open doing a quick check in the hallway, pistol raised.

Krystal ran up to him after he motioned everyone it was ok to move. "Bill, where's Fox? I haven't been able to contact him with my telepathy."

Bill refused to make eye contact with her by pretending to be cautiously looking for anyone. "I don't know. After we killed one of the infiltrators, we split up. I'm hoping he's alright." That was about when they heard a pistol crack.

Someone finally cracked, and screamed. Bill immediately started leading everyone for the door faster, but Krystal, fearing that it was Fox who was possibly shot, ran towards where she believed it was. She did a quick scan again from her telepathy and found Fox. He was incredibly close to the gunshot area. This only got her adrenaline going faster as she sprinted down hallways towards the gunshot was heard.

She ran into the lobby area, and no one was there. She quickly realized the was a bad spot to be, and turned around to try and use the escape Bill had been trying for earlier.

However, she didn't turn around to an empty lobby anymore. Instead, there was a Gorilla with a tactical set of armor, and a laser pistol pointed right at her head. Krystal gasped as soon as she saw the barrel right between her eyes. "Hello there. I knew I could drag you out of your sneaking if..." He then got a closer look at her sides, and her body. "Shit. You almost escaped. Well, sorry to shatter your dreams, but you are coming with me to the gym." Krystal made a quick attempt to read his mind, only to be met with a quick, and very strong back hand that had knocked her off her feet.. "Stay out of my mind you adolescent bitch." Krystal rubbed her cheek where she was hit. "Now, get up, you are coming with me."

(A/N: PoV switch. Sorry, couldn't think of any other way to write this next part.)

Suddenly, the gorilla tensed up, Krystal looked behind him, and there was Fox, standing with a L-SMG. "Other way around. Drop your weapon, and slide it towards me. Any sudden movements, and I guarantee you a hot smoldering laser wound between the eyes." The gorilla did as he was told turning to face Fox, and slid his weapon over to him, which Fox kicked clear across the lobby. Then Fox got just out of arms reach, holding his gun steady at the gorilla's head. "Very good. Now hands on your head."

The gorilla did as he was told, but looked at Fox's weapon. "You know, that weapon your holding is useless with the safety on."

Fox snorted, "Like that trick is going to work on me." But, after he said that, Fox checked. The gorilla took his chance and disarmed Fox, sending the L-SMG flying towards a wall. Fox stumbled back, catching himself just in time to acrobatically dodge a fist that was rocketing towards his gut.

"Made you look." And then came a flurry of punches towards Fox.

Fox was able to dodge some, but one collided with his face, dazing him and leaving him open to the oncoming uppercut. The fist made contact knocking him on his back. The gorilla made an attempt to stomp him, but Fox rolled to his left avoiding the stomp narrowly, the attack left the gorilla vulnerable to a sweeping kick that Fox delivered. While it didn't knock him off his feet, it gave Fox some time to regain his standing position.

The gorilla flung his arm around spinning him with it. Fox grappled the arm, pulling the gorilla towards him. He then gave him a roundhouse to the back, forcing the gorilla to groan slightly in pain, but remaining on his feet. He turned to face Fox yet again, grabbing him around the waste, and threw him with relative ease.

Fox smashed against a wall with his back, "Agh!" He fell to his knee, but rolled left to dodge a kick that could have crushed his head. He threw himself at the waist of the gorilla, and was able to take him to the ground. Fox landed three solid punches on the gorilla's face before he was flipped over the gorilla's head. Fox kicked his legs up, forcing him back to his feet rather quickly.

Unfortunately, the gorilla had beaten him to his feet. Before Fox could figure out what had happened, he was thrown again. He flew into a wall and felt his leg break. The gorilla smiled at his success. "I must say, you aren't a bad fighter, but unlike you, I've had ten solid years of training." He walked over and picked up the L-SMG and began walking towards Fox. "Unfortunately, I can't allow you to live to improve your fighting skill. You see, the Venom emperor, the great Andross, has had this planned for a long time, and any survivor would ruin his plan." He fondled with the weapon, checking the clip.

Fox did a quick check around him, the pistol was no where near him. The gorilla stood over Fox, weapon pointed at his head. "Now, my sparring partner, I guarantee you a consolation prize, a smoldering hot laser wound between the eyes." Fox closed his eyes, not willing to meet deaths eye. "Farewell, foxy."

All that was heard was a single shot.


	9. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Fleeing the Scene

Fox's eyes darted open as he let out a short scream of pain. Another shot was heard, and the gorilla that had the L-SMG fell over, dropping the gun. With his last breath, he looked at Fox gripping his shoulder, trying to keep the blood from spilling out everywhere, the Gorilla let a barely plausible voice say his final words, "You had it... on semi-" and with that, his eyes glassed over, and he let his body go limp, signifying he was dead.

Fox was in what he assumed was shock, nothing mattered but the pain in his leg and arm. He then felt the remains of the heat of the laser seep into his flesh and cauterize his shoulder wound. He hissed in pain, but removed his hand. His brain began playing catch up with his body, and he began to assess his situation. There was Krystal running towards him, and something grey and furry rattling him. When his eye sight focused in, he realized it was Bill. "Stop shaking me." Was all he could think of to say.

Bill sighed in relief, "For a second there I thought he had managed to shoot a vital organ before I got him. Are you alright?" Fox was still lagging behind everyone else, and didn't respond. Bill quickly panicked, "Krystal, you're a telepath, can you check to see if he's ok?"

Fox was looking at both of them stupidly, while Krystal concentrated on something, "He's not ok, mentally or physically. His brainwaves are so dispersed and scattered he has no idea what's going on right now." She sensed Bill's confusion from the large vocabulary she used, "To put it simply, he can't think straight." She turned her attention from Fox and focused it towards Bill. "And I thought you went to get the police!"

Bill nodded, "I escorted everyone from your class half way, when we cleared school grounds, I sent them for the police. If you died," He gestured towards her, "Or if Fox here died, living with myself would be rather hard wouldn't it?" Krystal opened her mouth to shoot a response back, but closed it when the words would not surface, "Now, we got two choices here. You and me can carry Fox out of here, or we can leave him here and save our own hides."

Krystal smacked him across the cheek. Hard. "Don't even suggest leaving him behind! Who knows what they'll do to him!"

Bill nodded again and took Fox's wounded shoulder, "Good, I didn't want to carry him out of here alone. Get under his other shoulder, and we'll carry him out through the exit everyone else used." He looked around the lobby area, and spotted the laser pistol, "On second thought, grab that laser pistol and that sub. If those bastards find us unarmed, we'll become hostages."

Fox finally clicked himself back into reality, and showed his return with his eyes that were more focused, his ears that became more acute to hone in on noises, and his fingers began to tingle with excess adrenaline. "Bill, when did you get here?"

Bill took a look at Fox's face, and saw him with his narrowed eyes, and more alert status. "Just now, how are you feeling?"

Fox rolled his eyes, "Just peachy. And how are you this fine day?"

Bill let out a brief sigh, "This is no time for sarcasm, can you support some of your own weight?"

Fox nodded at Bill, "Yeah, but you'll have to act as my other leg." Fox reached down and checked his pocket, when he didn't feel anything inside it, he asked, "You got a weapon for me?"

"I got one for ya." Fox whipped his head around to see Krystal handing him the laser pistol.

Fox nodded and accepted it, "Did you check the energy cells?" Krystal nodded, and Fox held the pistol at the ready. "Good, now, lets get the hell out of here."

"Don't have to tell me twice." Bill took a step forward, and Fox took a step with his uninjured foot, letting his broken one drag behind like a sack. "Krystal, can you scout ahead of us? Even though Fox can carry himself a bit, we aren't all that mobile."

Krystal nodded and ran ahead. Hugging the wall like she was taught to in 'Basic Firefight Techniques II', she peeked around the corner, exposing as little as she could to the possibility of weapons fire on the other side of the hallway. "It's clear, keep up the pace guys!" She took off down the hallway, and out of Bill and Fox's line of sight for a short period of time.

"Hey Bill, thanks for bailing me out." Fox said out of the blue.

Bill looked away, possibly to hide any emotion, "Don't worry to much about it, you probably would have done the same thing for me." Bill looked ahead and pointed his pistol at the exit, "There it is, our one way ticket out."

Fox looked ahead and saw Krystal already outside the door making gestures with her hands in an attempt to get them moving faster. "Come on, let's get out of here!" Fox sped his pace up, which Bill easily matched. They made it out the door, and were greeted by numerous S.W.A.T members, and even the Cornerian Military. "I need some medical assistance!" Fox began lumbering his good leg towards the medical team, with Bill helping him every step of the way.

"We made it! What luck!" Bill exclaimed. When Fox didn't respond immediately, he looked at his friend, "Fox, hey are you alright?"

Fox most certainly didn't fell alright. The adrenaline that Fox had just seconds ago had begun to disperse, the pain of his broken leg came flooding in, the shoulder wound released pain, and the numerous punches he received earlier weren't helping either. He had to alert his friend to his horrible state, if it wasn't already visible. "I don't feel so hot, Bill." Fox's vision began losing depth, and everything started to have duplicates, just one at first, but now it was working on a fourth.

"Hang on! I'll get you some help!" Fox noticed his friend lay him on the grass, Fox's hearing was dampening, too. He only knew this because Bill's shouting sounded no louder than a cool breeze. "Hey! I need a medic here! He's losing consciousness!" Bill turned to face Fox yet again, his arms holding onto his shoulders. "Hang in there, we'll get you to safety..." With those final words, Fox's vision faded to a near black, allowing only a very limited tunnel of vision. All he saw before being completely becoming enveloped in the never ending darkness of unconsciousness, was a team of EM doctor's heaving him into an ambulance.

A/N: I... Am very ashamed of myself. I disappear on this story for about what, two months? And only return with this pitiful excuse of a chapter. It was originally going to be longer, but I thought it best to not to drag this part of the story out any more than I already have. I sincerely hope I didn't disappoint you all in this chapter.


	10. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Hospital Revisited

Fox began to come back to his senses, and felt an all too familiar sense around him. A cold feeling of the dying was first, followed by the ever so familiar white walls and the pictures of calming scenes. Then there was that window that looked over the city. Immediately bringing his mind to the only place this was. Just like a few months before, he was back in the hospital, given, he was in better condition than then, but that's besides the point.

Fox chuckled at where he was, but instantly regretted it. His stomach ached from his fight with that ape in the school. Remembering the fight with the ape, he set off a chain reaction of memories, and instantly began recalling all of his injuries. Broken leg was the first obvious one, as it was elevated and in broad sight. The second was his shoulder wound, already well bandaged, and was hardly movable. Fox let out a low moan to signify anyone around him he was finally coming too. It got someones attention, at least.

"Hey! He's coming to! Bill! He's up!" That voice rang in Fox's ears for a second. He had temporarily forgotten that perfect voice. The one of none other than Krystal.

"Really? Finally, we've been waiting for hours. You feeling any better, Fox?" Bill had appeared in Fox's vision, "Oh, and look what I got." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a shinning silver metal, "The Cornerian Silver Star!"

Fox smiled, "Nice going, your first medal and you're only a cadet." Fox gasped, remembering that oh so important detail of the school being held hostage. "Bill, what happened to the school?"

Bill elevated Fox's bed so he could see the T.V, which Krystal turned on towards the news channel, "Just watch the news, I'm sure you'll be impressed with what you see. They keep replaying the same footage over and over, the news media is having a field day with this."

Fox focused in as best he could to the news station, a female red fox was on screen, "Thanks, Jared. As most of our viewers already know, the Cornerian Military Academy, or CMA, was targeted by Venom Terrorists earlier today. Students say the attack started around nine in the morning, but officials weren't on the scene until around ten. We were able to get some footage of the first two escapee's, that were identified as the famous Fox McCloud, son of James McCloud, and Bill Gray."

Bill had taken his seat, and leaned back in it. "You know, it seems every news media has 'managed' to get this footage."

"... Thanks to these two young men, the Terrorists leader, who's name is still unknown, was killed, and the rest of the men were either killed or surrendered without much of a fight. To many of our surprises, there were no Academy student casualties, and only one severely injured. However, the principal of the school is in critical condition, but it is likely he will recover in due time."

Bill chuckled, "Can you guess who the severely injured was?" Fox rolled his eyes at his friends comment, and refocused on the news.

"...And for the first time since the start of the CMA, two students received medals for their courageous conduct during the crisis. On a less happy note, because of the direct link to Venom in this Terroristic attack, the already shaky relationship between Corneria and Venom is now beginning to see signs of crumbling, and war will probably be coming soon. Sylvia Cox, N64 News. Back to you Jared."

Krystal flipped the T.V off, and took her seat again, which was at the foot of the bed. "So, hows that for heroics? No casualties, no worries."

Bill chuckled, "Yeah, but just expect the school to be that much tighter in security."

Fox did his best to nod, "But, doesn't it seem a bit too perfect? No one died, and the only injuries were me and the principal. Not only that, but they left every entrance pretty much wide open to escape. These were well trained special op units. Yet, they failed the basics."

"Eh, don't let yourself hang on that for to long," Bill let out a long yawn. "Even though it was a perfect scenario on our part, we exploited their weakness. It could be that when we killed their leader they went into a wide array of panic, and thats why the doors were wide open."

Like last time, a doctor walked in with a clipboard, glasses and was a goat. "Well Mr. McCloud, we weren't expecting to see you back here so soon. A laser wound, broken leg, and enough black marks to make a dalmation look spotless." He determined. "You are playing Ding-Dong Ditch on deaths door aren't you?"

Bill and Fox both responded with, "Haven't been caught yet."

The goat sighed, and slid his glasses back up. "Anyway, we were able to heal your shoulder wound up with the same method we healed your esophagus with, however, you'll always have a nice scar to show where you've been shot." The doctor took a closer look at his clipboard, as if trying to find some fatal wound within Fox. "Your leg however, it is impossible to heal with that serum. So you'll be on crutches for about a month. And your bruises will leave you sore for about a week, so I require- not ask- you take it easy until your bruises are gone."

"Very well, doc." Fox groaned. "I'll take it easy for a bit. So, when can I get out of this place?"

"For some reason, I don't believe you will take it easy..." The doctor grumbled, hands pinching the bone between his eyes. "But, you are free to go once we get your cast on. So I ask that you get one of your good friends here to help you up and to follow me. Preferably the grey do-" When the doctor and everyone else looked, Bill had already disappeared. "I must say, you have a very fast friend. Then I guess the vixen can help you. Might I suggest you get your clothes on the way out?" The goat left the room, so the last part of his sentence was rather distant as the door slid shut.

Fox sighed, and muttered, "Bill isn't very good, nor is he subtle, at playing 'Matchmaker'. Krystal, can you hand me my green pants? There is no way in hell I'm walking out there with just this dress and boxers on..."

Fox left the hospital around twenty minutes later, with a cast, crutches, and a very deep scowl settled on his face. When he heard Krystal giggling, he looked over at her, "What's so funny, Krystal?" He asked, scowl removing to give ground to a smile."

"Your face. You just don't look right with a scowl." She replied, giggling more as his scowl went ever deeper.

"If you leave the hospital in the same condition I'm in with a smile, people will question your sanity." He retorted, "Plus, I'm on _crutches_. I can just _hear_ the pity comments tomorrow, or when I arrive on campus for that matter."

She just continued to laugh at him. "Like, 'Fox! What happened to your leg? Are you alright? Can I sign your cast?'"

Fox felt his scowl lighten just slightly, "You do know that just because I'm on crutches doesn't mean I can't smack you with them."

Krystal smirked, "And since you are on crutches, I can just as easily kick them out from under you."

Fox shook his head, "You are cruel and sadistic. You know that? I bet you push old ladies down the steps and push people in front of oncoming traffic."

She laughed a bit more before calming herself down, "I wouldn't dare do that." They walked in silence after that. It was somewhat a comfortable silence, and somewhat of an awkward silence. "You know, its good that those are the only wounds you got. I was scared when the ape had you in looking down his gun barrel."

Fox jumped at her outburst, "Well, you should be thanking Bill, he's the one who bailed me out of that. If anything, I'm glad you all didn't decide to abandon me there."

Krystal nodded, but did not respond verbally. Now the silence felt entirely awkward and unwanted. However, Fox didn't want to break the silence on the off chance it becomes an awkward conversation. Krystal however, broke the silence. "Fox, I never properly thanked you for saving me. I thought I was doomed to be a hostage, and probably killed later."

"It was nothing. I would proudly march into hell and bring you back." Fox realized what he had said and mentally shot himself. That was the most corniest thing he had said. Ever. "I mean, I'd have a hard time living with myself if I lived, but you died. Making sure everyone comes back is my priority, if it means my life to save someone else's, consider me laser bait. I was ready to die back there, so long as you made it out alive." Fox cringed as soon as he realized that too had left his mouth. Was his head bashed up? He'd never done this before in his life. Let alone in front of Krystal.

"Y-you would?" She stuttered.

Fox nodded, he had no choice but to follow through. "I'd be willing to exchange my life for yours. If I didn't, I would become shattered. You're a good person Krystal, I'm not the only one who'd have their life thrown for the worst."

"Thank you, Fox. That means a lot to me." She stopped walking, and Fox stopped rather quickly beside her. He noticed she was leaning towards his face, while it was very subtle, it was slightly noticeable. What worried Fox though was he was leaning towards her, too. All his logical thinking had been silenced and his teenage mindset had settled in. He knew his mind screamed to pull away, but his teenage mindset screamed louder to go for it. They were centimeters away from each other, almost nothing could stop them for how close they were now.

Key word there, _almost_.

"Hey Fox! There you are!" Fox pulled away, completely flustered, and the same could be said for Krystal. Fox fell hard on the concrete, and almost tripped a passerby. "Uh... Was I interrupting something, between you two?"

"Bill... If I wasn't on crutches..." He growled. "It doesn't matter, you won't wake up tomorrow."

Bill chuckled, "Why? I just came over here, worried about my roommate, not to mention my best friend who pays less than his due on the dorm, and see if he was alright."

"Tch." Fox had been defeated... For now. He'd get back at Bill, eventually. "Go on back to the dorm Bill, I'll meet you there." Fox got up off the ground, and watched Bill walk out of sight. "Geez, he **really **knows how to kill a moment." Fox looked at Krystal, who was still flushed. "You alright? You look a bit dazed, or nervous. Do we have a test tomorrow or something?" The next thing he knew there was a small peck on his lips, and Krystal muttering, 'Thanks.' And walking off towards the school grounds.

Fox was on cloud nine for the rest of the day.

A/N: Long overdue, and once again, doesn't seem up to par. I had to get him out of the hospital somehow, and I had to move the relationship along, too. Hopefully, it wasn't unbearable...


	11. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Preparing for Finals.

"For the last two months, Fox and Krystal had been spending a lot of time together. He even turned down a chance to play Wing Commander online!" Bill exclaimed. Taking a bite out of his burger.

Both Logan and Joey went back with false shock. "Oh no! How will we ever survive!" Joey sarcastically replied. "It's fine. We've seen this day coming for who knows how long, Bill. Just go on and accept it." Joey took a drink from his water.

Logan shrugged, "Or you could help get them closer."

Joey about choked on his water, "Fat chance. We've seen what happened to you. This is the first time you've hung out with us since the school was raided. And the only reason you showed is because I told Aaron you had prior plans."

"And I didn't! You lied to her!" Logan shouted, raising from his seat,. Causing everyone around them to look at him funny.

Bill looked up at him, "Sit down Logan. You're embarrassing yourself, not to mention me and Joey." Logan turned red and sat back down. "It would've been ok if we were in the schools cafeteria, but we're in the mall..." Bill looked up to see Fox looking like an idiot trying to locate them, "Hey! Dumb ass! Over here!" Of course, Fox recognized the voice, and walked towards them.

He took his seat next to Bill, "Sorry about being late, Bill. Krystal needed some help at her dorm."

Bill looked like a puppy who had been berated by his master, "You... almost d-ditched us for Krystal?" Bill was shattered inside. He was slowly losing his best friend.

Joey on the other hand, had a sly smirk on his face. "What did she need help with? I mean, it _is _kind of suspicious of you to be at her dorm helping her with something."

Bill caught on with where Joey was going with this, and was doing his best not to laugh. However, Fox did not. "I was helping her rearrange furniture, why is that so suspicious?"

Joey's sly grin widened ever so slightly, "Oh? Did you help her 'rearrange' her bed?"

By now, even Logan had to have caught on, but Bill looked at Fox, still as oblivious as ever when it came to such references. "Uh... We moved the chair, the coffee table, and her couch. But we left the bed where it was. Accidentally made a mess on the couch, but she cleaned it off."

Bill couldn't contain himself, and he busted out laughing, as did Logan and Joey. No one but Fox would not be able catch the innuendo, and the way he said everything... They just couldn't contain themselves anymore. Bill was able to contain his laughter just for a second, "How far, d-did you move those objects?" He continued laughing afterwards.

"We didn't really move them all that much, we move the chair about two inches, the couch no more than a centimeter, but we moved the coffee table pretty far. We about broke the thing, too."

Bill about fell out of his chair. Fox was on a role with sexual innuendos. "H-how did you almost break it?" He laughed out, "D-did you go too fast for Krystal?"

Fox rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah, I went a bit too quick and she-" Everyone bottled their laughter, and watched Fox go from normal, to the deepest shade of crimson Bill had ever seen. "**How could you guys think that**?!" He shouted. Fox put his head down, "That's just... I have some decency you know!"

Bill fell out of his chair, "I think I need a paramedic! My stomach is going to kill me!" He listened to Fox's stuttering, and ramble of how they were immature. When everyone regained their composure from laughing, they looked at Fox, who had still to change back from his crimson red face. "Ha, whew, that was hilarious. Let me go get you a soda, or maybe some cold water. You look like you really need it..."

The next day, on their way to first block, Bill noticed whenever Fox looked at Krystal, he turned a shade of pink and looked at the ground. Bill smiled inwardly at himself, he had a devious plan in the making.

Bill was sitting in his first block, listening to the teacher drone on about the wars of Corneria pre-space age. He didn't need to know this, and as such, figured slacking off would be better. When the teacher stopped his lecture about a battle called the Battle of Gator Hill, Bill decided he'd listen.

"Oh, it would seem I forgot to mention that we are getting close to the end of the year." Yep, nothing slips by this character, Bill was already counting down the days. He didn't need to be reminded he still had 2 weeks, 4 days, 15 hours, 19 minutes, approximately 30 seconds, and about 90 milliseconds before school was out. "And since the end of the year is so close, that means finals are up and coming." Bill groaned, as did half the remaining members of the class who weren't put to sleep by the teachers lesson. "So, since I've been done teaching you all for the past week, I've made the study guide. I want this completed by the day of the finals, this study guide will guarantee you a flunk if you don't turn it in. It is all multiple choice, with two hundred questions." Bill's head smashed into the table, if this was the first block final exam study guide, he wouldn't be able to contain his profanities...

"Wow... Three D-halls..." He muttered, looking at his D-hall papers. "They shouldn't have given us so much crap for finals. How are we ever going to get all this done?" Bill rubbed the back of his neck as he shoved his D-hall slips into his pocket. Then, his devious plan came back into his head. "Hey Fox, why don't we get everyone together for a study group?"

Fox looked up from his well over 2,000 questions worth of study guide work. "Yeah, that'd be a great idea! We could get everyone in on it."

Bill nodded excitingly, "Yeah! We can have Joey, Logan, even Aaron and Allie. Not to mention Krystal." Bill laughed evilly on the inside, he knew Fox would say no now.

"Er... On second thought, maybe it's not such a great idea anyway." Bill had sunk his Battleship. "I mean, I'm not sure all of us could focus on doing school work, especially not-"

"Especially not you, because Krystal will be there, right? You'd find it hard to concentrate if she wore any of her skin tight clothing, not to mention those really short shorts she has..." Bill trailed off, and looked at Fox who began to turn red.

"T-thats not what I'm worried about! I mean, Logan and Aaron won't be able to concentrate! They'll end up disgusting us!" Fox tried to recover, but Bill saw right through it.

"Well, then we'll let them study themselves. That'd leave you, me, Allie, Joey, and Krystal. We can all crack down and get this done in a day if we stay up late Friday."

Fox was being very persistent. Bill had done more damage to him and his mindset about Krystal than he originally thought. "But then I'd feel bad for leaving them out of our study group."

Bill nodded, going along with Fox. "That is true..." He looked over to see Fox let out a sigh of relief, and decided he'd strike. "We can just tell them no romantic crap, or we'll kick them out. I'm sure that'll keep 'em in line. So what do you say? It can work out, and this would take us a good week and a half to do alone."

Finally, Fox gave in. "Fine. We'll try it. But the moment something goes wrong, I'm leaving. I'm going back to the dorm, you can make the arrangements this time."

Once Fox was out of sight, Bill pumped his fists in victory. "I am going to have so much fun this Friday..." Bill's plan was set into motion, now all he needed to do was set Fox and Krystal up for some rather 'awkward' situations. But first, he needed to let everyone in on the plan.

First person on the list would be Joey. Bill ran to Joey and Logan's dorm room and knocked. He waited outside the door for a few seconds before Joey answered the door, "Joey, need to talk to you. If Logan's here, I also need to talk to him. While I'm at it, we should invite Allie and Aaron over for this..."

Bill went into full explanation of his devious plan. Explaining all the pros and cons, the difficulties, the reward, and even pulled out statistics. "So, any questions, comments, complaints? Or should this idea be trashed?"

Joey put a hand to his chin, "Well, the idea itself is genius. Makes me wonder what you do in your pass time." Bill beamed with delight. "However, you left out key details of the after effects. This plan can go one of many ways. One is that you speed the process of Fox and Krystal dating, and if I'm correct, that's not something you were aiming for."

Bill shrugged, "I don't care anymore. It'll give us more repeat incidents like the one at the mall food court. In fact, that would actually be a nice side effect, they are taking a bit to long to realize anything."

Joey nodded, "Then there is no problem with the plan, at least that I see." Joey looked at the room of people, "Anyone have any objections?"

Everyone shook their heads, and Bill practically glowed. "Alright! Now that I have everyones full cooperation, this will begin Operation: S.E.C.K.S"

Joey shook his head, "That makes it sound like we're trying to get them to do something rather indecent. Let's just call it Operation: Finale."

"Fine. Operation: Finale. Everyone, don't forget your roles! And good luck, men!" Bill saluted his classmates, who saluted back. "Dismissed!" Logan and Aaron left together, and Allie right after them. "Joey, your role is the most important. Don't forget the _thing_."

Joey nodded, "Don't worry I won't forget _that_." Bill gave him one last salute, and then left for his dorm.

A/N: A quick update, this idea hit me like a semi. What better way to begin the final adventure of this story? Studying for finals... You know something is up :D


End file.
